LA County deputies fire 33 rounds at gunman

Two deputies fired 33 bullets at the gunman after Robertson refused to drop the gun and walked across a busy street to a gas station where a family was pumping gas, Sheriff homicide Cpt Steven Katz said.

Witnesses in the immediate area told investigators they saw the suspect turn and point the gun at deputies before the shooting, Navarro-Suarez said. But relatives are questioning why Los Angeles County deputies continued spraying the man with bullets, even as he crawled away.

The suspect was “behaving erratically” and brandished his gun inside the stores, sheriff’s department Captain Steve Katz said.

Was killed as cops use of force draws increasing criticism after several deaths of black men by policemen are found on video in California and through the state.

“He was still holding the gun and he still wouldn’t let it go”, 18-year-old Juan Roberto, who works at a nearby pizza parlor, told the LA Times, referring to the bevy of shots fired after Robertson hit the pavement.

“They shot him in his shoulder, and he was crawling to this gas station”, Robertson’s mother-in-law, Pamela Brown, told CBS Los Angeles.

Seth Stoughton, a criminal law professor at the University of SC, said there are circumstances in which officers could shoot a man walking away from them, and the fact that Robertson was armed will play in their favor.

“Them two police officers that was shooting him while he was down and they still reloaded they guns and was shooting him-they need something to happen to them”, Bradford said, according to KABC.

The gun was not registered to Robertson and has not been reported stolen. She said that Robertson had been arrested before for drinking in the past, and that was the only time he’d ever been jailed.

Katz estimated that the entire confrontation, from the time officers first ordered Robertson to drop the gun until the shooting was over, lasted about 30 seconds. “Nothing”, Monica Reddix said. “Any time you see him, you see him with the kids”. “He had take them to and from school”. Help them with homework. He is a father – that is his occupation.

Other family members said the shooting was not justified and that Robertson may not have heard the deputies’ command to drop the gun.

One image shows the suspect wielding a handgun in broad daylight as he ambled down the heavily-trafficked street, while another photo appears to show Robertson holding the gun even as he lies mortally wounded.

The video does not show Robertson pointing the gun directly at police though officers said it was pointed in their general direction.

Following McDonnell’s news conference, Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Project Islamic Hope President Najee Ali and other civil rights leaders demanded a U.S. Justice Department probe into the shooting. “What they did yesterday was… point-blank murder”.

Sheriff Jim McDonnell promised the investigation would be handled “with the utmost professionalism and integrity” and urged anyone with information to come forward.

“There’s gonna be criticism anytime there’s a deputy-involved shooting”.

Speaking to the LA Times, one of Roberston’s in-laws, Tracy Brown, 47, of Lynwood, said: ‘They shot him. Several bystanders filmed the shooting, and their videos circulated online widely.