![]() “As far as any further questioning, I will lawyer up,” he said in the video. Prosecutors and a grand jury declined to file charges against Sanchez, but LAPD ruled the shooting was outside department policy.Īnd while Sanchez initially answered the officer’s questions in the newly released video, he later changed his mind and said he would not be talking further without a lawyer present. ![]() Security video released after the shooting showed some kind of physical altercation between the two men, but it was not clear how the altercation started or how it escalated into a fatal shooting. I believe he was still armed, and so I shot.īut police never found a weapon, and Sanchez was not shot. When I dropped my son, I looked over and the guy like hunkers down. Sanchez: I see a blast, and I feel my head get knocked off, and I fall to the ground and dropped my son. Sanchez told police that he returned fire after believing he had been shot, killing 32-year-old Kenneth French, who was developmentally disabled, and wounding his parents. I still feel pain in the side of my head. Family members say French's mother is in a coma and the father remains hospitalized.Sanchez: I thought I got shot. ![]() In a Facebook posting Monday, Shureih said the family has gotten "witness accounts that do not match up to the original story." He declined to provide details, saying the information is confidential. He also said the family is pro-police but wants justice and called on authorities to arrest the officer. The family's relatives are urging anyone who witnessed the deadly encounter to contact them. Winslow said he was not aware French had a disability. "I don't know if he has autism, but he's not talkative," said Rahman Bace, who lives next door to the French family. The officer - who has been with the LAPD for seven years and currently works in the Southeast Division - was interviewed Monday by LAPD investigators as part of the department's administrative probe, Winslow said. RELATED: California Costco shooting: Suspect in custody after shooting leaves 1 dead, 3 wounded He is on paid administrative leave that is mandatory after an officer-involved shooting. The officer's head injury was caused by a "severe blow" and he was treated at the hospital, his attorney said. His child was not harmed.Ĭorona police did not respond to requests for information about Winslow's statements, what immediately preceded the shooting and whether anyone other than the officer had a weapon. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office issued a statement urging the public to be patient. Once Corona police finish their investigation, prosecutors will review and consider whether to bring criminal charges.Ĭorona police say the only weapon recovered at the scene belonged to the off-duty officer.Īuthorities have not said if the officer identified himself as a police officer before firing. An earlier statement by Corona police referred to the off-duty officer as a "victim." Witnesses reported seeing an argument between two people near a freezer section when at least six shots rang out. The shooting prompted a stampede of frightened shoppers, some fleeing the store as others sought cover inside. Video from Costco's security cameras and shoppers' cellphones will be critical to the investigations, said Samuel Walker, a retired criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an expert on police accountability. Off-duty officers can carry concealed firearms as long as the guns are authorized for on-duty use, according to the LAPD manual. Regardless of whether they're in uniform, police officers are allowed to use deadly force in self-defense or defense of others if it's clear there is no alternative, said Robert Weisberg, a professor at Stanford University's law school. "If you carry a gun, especially in California, you cannot be drawing your gun," Bace said. What happens if you don't have the gun? Nobody would be dead, honestly." "You're an off-duty officer, for God's sake. The Associated Press contributed to this story.French didn’t talk and lived with his parents in the Lake Hills area near Corona. His parents have said they tried to intervene and explain their son’s condition. ![]() Sanchez fired 10 shots from a 9-mm pistol, according to a report to the civilian oversight panel by LAPD Chief Michel Moore. ![]()
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