Two deputies involved in the killing of Andres Guardado have been temporarily “relieved of duty in response to an unrelated investigation,” the sheriff’s department announced Friday evening.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva suspended the deputies on Monday, according to Deputy Shawn Du Busky of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“When you’re relieved of duty, they usually take your badge and firearm so you’re unable to do any police action pending the end of the investigation,” Du Busky told City News Service.
The investigation is related to a traffic collision that occurred on April 13, Du Busky said, but he could not provide further information while the investigation is ongoing.
The FBI, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and the Office of the Inspector General are monitoring the investigation, according to Du Busky.
The deputies were involved in the sheriff’s department’s June 18 killing of Guardado, who was fatally shot when he was running from authorities while working as an informal security guard at an auto shop near Gardena.
The killing led to a coroner’s office inquest — the first in Los Angeles County in over 30 years — into the death.
The inquest’s hearing officer, retired California Court of Appeals Justice Candace D. Cooper, has not made findings related to Guardado’s cause and manner of death.