Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday investigations are being carried out into a spate of five shootings, two of them fatal, by Los Angeles police officers in a four-day span last week, more than the total number of shootings by officers during the first eight weeks of the year.
Moore insisted, however, that the department has been steadily reducing the number of shootings by officers each year, despite the rash of shootings in the last week.
“This last year, in 2020, we had 27 officer-involved shootings, the year before that 26, and those were 44-45% reductions from where we were five years ago, six years ago,” Moore told the city Police Commission.
He said “reverence for human life remains our guiding principle” and the department is investing in de-escalation and alternatives to force.
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles responded to Moore on Twitter saying, “One of the suspects had a hammer, another suspect had a knife. If `reverence for human life remains our guiding principle’ then why are you killing people in cold blood for legal weapons. … There is a pattern of blatant disregard for human life by LAPD. This pattern is ignored and denied by LAPD and why we must #DefundThePolice.”
Moore said each shooting will be investigated through reviews of body-worn camera, video from nearby residences, witness accounts and physical evidence, and the department will release critical incident videos with a summary of evidence within 45 days of each shooting, as is required under commission and department policies.
The first of two shootings on March 16 involved a suspect who had fired a gun at about 12:15 p.m. in the 1000 block of West 21st Street, LAPD officials said. A SWAT team and crisis negotiation team responded.
Moore said the man, identified as Jorge Cerda, exchanged gunfire with police and struck an officer twice. Officers shot and killed Cerda. The officer was taken to a hospital and later released, Moore said.
The LAPD later reported the officer was shot in the chest and the face, but was wearing a bullet-proof vest that protected his chest.
Later that day, at 5:20 p.m., an assault with a deadly weapon suspect, identified as 33-year-old Mark Antonio Diaz, was armed with a knife inside a house in the 1600 block of East 109th Street, near Compton Avenue, Moore said.
“Upon arrival, the officers were advised that Mr. Diaz was inside the location armed with a knife and trying to enter a room of another individual at the location,” Moore said.
Diaz complied with officers’ commands and dropped two knives, but then began walking toward the knives on the ground, according to Moore. Officers shot him with a less-lethal 40 millimeter launcher, causing Diaz to fall on top of the knives, Moore said.
Police allege that Diaz grabbed a knife and lunged toward the victim’s bedroom door and slashed at the victim, who was screaming inside the bedroom, Moore said.
Officers shot Diaz, who was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, Moore said. He was booked on suspicion of attempted murder.
On Wednesday, at around 12:15 p.m., an off-duty LAPD lieutenant said he saw two suspects inside a vehicle shoot a victim standing on a sidewalk in the Hollenbeck area.
“As the suspects drove in the officer’s direction, an officer-involved shooting occurred,” police said. “It is not believed that the suspects were struck by the gunfire, and they fled the scene.” The original shooting victim was hospitalized with wounds not believed to be life-threatening.
Moore said that shooting “appears to be gang-related” and investigators are working to identify the suspects who shot the victim.
Two more shootings by police officers occurred Friday. At around 3 p.m., a Rampart-area sergeant was flagged down and advised of a suspect armed with a hammer and what was believed to have been a hatchet, later said to be a pickaxe, in the area of Bonnie Brae Street and Wilshire Boulevard, Moore said. Additional officers arrived and attempted to detain the suspect using a less-than-lethal 40 millimeter launcher and a Taser, which did not work, Moore said.
“He turned while standing in the street and reportedly threw the hammer at the officers,” Moore said. “The individual then raised what appeared to be a small pickaxe above and behind his head and reportedly began to throw it at the officers.”
At least one officer shot the man, and he was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Later that day, around 7 p.m. Friday, Hollenbeck Station officers wounded a driver who backed his vehicle toward them during a traffic stop and sped away, crashing into the police vehicle, Moore said.
The man, identified as 24-year-old Nathan Glover, drove away at a high rate of speed and a pursuit ensued for four blocks, when Glover ran from the vehicle allegedly armed with a handgun, leading to the shooting. Glover is also expected to survive.