Video captures L.A. sheriff's deputies fatally shooting armed man
A man shot and killed by Los Angles sheriff's deputies Saturday had fired multiple shots into the air from a handgun, was acting erratically and posed a “grave” danger to the community, authorities said.
Two deputies together fired 33 rounds at Nicholas Robertson, 28, as he walked away from them and toward a car filled with three children, said Capt. Steve Katz of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Katz said witnesses and video showed Robertson turning or swiveling toward deputies, an unloaded .45-caliber semiautomatic in his hand, when they opened fire.
“In this case, there was some grave concern for the number of (potential) victims that were in that location. The suspect presented a threat to the deputies and the community, and they took the action that they did,” Katz said. “He did not comply with their repeated requests to drop the weapon."
The shooting happened shortly before 11 a.m. in a busy shopping area of Lynwood, and multiple bystanders and security cameras captured the incident. One video taken by a bystander shows the deputies repeatedly firing at Robertson as he crawls away from them, the gun still in his hand. Katz said the gun was unloaded because Robertson fired multiple shots into the air following an apparent domestic disturbance, although investigators later found two more rounds near his hand.
Small protests erupted Saturday night as residents criticized the deputies’ actions. In a 20-minute news conference Sunday, sheriff’s officials acknowledged the tense relationship between police and many community members across the country, and said they were trying to be as transparent as possible in explaining what happened.
Investigators on Sunday released video of Robertson acting erratically and walking down the street with the gun in his hand as bystanders shrink away or flee. The video also shows him ignoring arriving deputies as they shouted at him to drop the weapon and stop walking toward a gas station. Authorities said Robertson had a prior criminal record, and that the gun was registered to someone else. Robertson was from the Lynwood area, which is south of Los Angeles and north of Compton, authorities said.
“We understand certainly the significant community concern anytime the police are involved in the use of deadly force,” Sheriff Jim McDonnell said. “Understand please that it still is early on in the investigation. We also understand that there are strong emotions by family, friends and the community around investigations of this type. We owe it to family, the public and to the justice system to be thorough and to be deliberate."