Police Shootings

Three men shot to death in March by Los Angeles police in the west San Fernando Valley had taken drugs and one had ingested both alcohol and cocaine in the hours before their deadly encounters, according to autopsy results released Friday. The men, killed in separate incidents on March 9 and 11, were shot in their cars after they tried to escape from police in their cars.

Eight supervisors and correctional officers at the Corcoran State Prison--including an associate warden--have been fired for their alleged roles in the June 1995 beating of several black inmates as they were being processed into the maximum-security prison. The state Department of Corrections confirmed the firings but would not say who was fired or why. The head of the union for state correctional officers said Associate Warden Bruce Ferris Jr., Capt.

A woman who sat in jail for 36 hours with a bullet lodged in her head has filed a lawsuit against the Anaheim Police Department and hospitals in Santa Ana and Anaheim, alleging it has left her disabled. Nancy Gilmore Brown, 31, was arrested on suspicion of murder the night of June 30, 1995, at an Anaheim motel room, where her boyfriend had been shot to death. Anaheim police found Brown bleeding from a head wound at the scene of the crime, speaking slowly and with a slur, records show.

Groping to explain a series of four shootings by police officers in the San Fernando Valley, LAPD Chief Willie L. Williams said Tuesday that the controversial "three strikes" law may drive lawbreakers to desperation to resist arrest, regardless of the risk.

LAPD officers shot two men in the San Fernando Valley on Monday, bringing to four the number of suspects shot by police in unrelated incidents in less than 48 hours. Three were killed and one wounded. Two of the four were paroled prisoners who faced "third-strike" imprisonment if convicted again, police said. Two were killed in remarkably similar incidents--by officers who said they were trying to arrest suspects in cars. The suspects then tried to drive off, dragging the officers along.

Shooting into the air and hurling cans of tear gas, about 200 Palestinian security personnel broke up a rally at the West Bank's largest university protesting the arrests of suspected Hamas activists. At least five students were arrested in the Hamas-organized protest at Al Najah University, whose student council is dominated by members of the militant Muslim group.

It was his third crime scene in less than 48 hours. With helicopters buzzing overhead and squalling squad cars racing past, Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Robert Gale drew a breath and thought: "Not again." But when he pulled up in front of the yellow police tape, his fears were realized. There lay another of his own, injured and bloody, while a civilian lay dead, felled by the officer's bullet.

A summary of four shooting incidents involving LAPD officers: 1 West Valley March 9, 1996 Time call came in: 9:15 p.m. Nature of call: Assault with a deadly weapon. Number of suspects: 1 Summary of incident: Suspect flees scene. A high-speed pursuit is called off after 45 minutes for safety concerns. Police reengage suspect when suspect enters a cul-de-sac. When suspect sees pursuing officers, he attempts to ram his vehicle through a wrought iron gate.

The Los Angeles Police Department's officer-involved shooting team--beset by turmoil during the past year--was assigned a new leader Monday, the first in a series of changes that the unit will be undergoing during the next few weeks, police said. Lt. Ken Lady is replacing the current leader, Lt. Bill Hall. The team, part of the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division, investigates all shootings by Los Angeles police officers.

Whenever a cop shoots and kills someone under questionable circumstances, it seems to me that both the police and the public have the same duty. Both should resist the impulse to jump to conclusions, whether that impulse be to cover up or to condemn. Cover-ups undermine trust in the police, but so do knee-jerk condemnations. Neither is a very smart way for a society to proceed.