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LAPD officers shoot and kill homeless man

March 2, 2015

Los Angeles police shot and killed a homeless man on Sunday afternoon while being filmed by an onlooker. [Los Angeles Times]

The man, whom witnesses called “Africa,” was pronounced dead at the hospital. Two officers were treated for minor injuries.

Around noon, officers responded to the report of a robbery. Warning: the content of the video is disturbing.

Post by Anthony Blackburn.

The officers involved said the man grabbed for one of the officer’s gun before two officers shot him.

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Hang em high!


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No excuse for attempting to grab an officer’s weapon.


Compliance is the best option.


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Let’s talk about the new awareness of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) in first responders. We used to call this condition “battle fatigue” and “shell shock”. and they did not realize a couple of important aspects of this: 1. It can have nothing to do with being in the military in a war zone. 2. Children can get it at a very young age. 3. You do not have to have something happen to you—just seeing something horrible can give you PTSD. Now, that said, how many police officers might have this? I spoke to one police officer in a professional capacity who responded to a call where a 2 year old child was left by the mother with “meth boyfriend” who then beat him to death and wrote on the walls in blood with his body. I also interviewed a paramedic who arrived first on the scene to a multiple homicide where he was the first to see the bodies of the child victims involved. (These were both in the LA area). In both cases, the first responders were quite seasoned.


PTSD is a disorder which features hypervigilance. Being in a heightened state of perceived danger allows for trigger-fast reactions to occur–without the actual intentionality of that. I feel this is what might be transpiring in the field of first responders–in numbers that are much higher than we anticipated. Solution: early diagnosis, monitored timeframes of symptomology, and EDUCATION. An officer that is aware of his diagnosis is stronger–not weaker for having admitted these things bothered him. First responders have more options when they know about this disorder. They can team up to find solutions (look it up—playing Tetris within 1/2 hour of seeing the gore can actually prevent PTSD). Protect yourself–first responders! Don’t let PTSD creep in and then have MORE stress when you respond with your firearm too quickly.


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wow….they knocked his old lady to the ground as well even though she was on sticks…2 for 1….good job heroes….


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When you are down on the ground and the LAPD is beating the hell out of you with batons AND YOU ARE MENTALLY ILL it is highly likely that you are simply going to do whatever you can to attempt to save your life. You don’t THINK in those those moments you just DO.


There was no reason for FOUR men to be using their batons like that on a mentally ill human being, or ANY human being for that matter. One of them was beating with such zeal he couldn’t even hold on to his baton.


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There was no reason for FOUR men to be using their batons like that on a mentally ill human being, or ANY human being for that matter

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You mean other than the guy was going crazed chimpanzee on them? Other than that?


Why do people think it’s supposed to be a fair fight? Like they are in a ring with a ref and one side shouldn’t bring weapons or help.

Get real. This guy fought all 4 of them first and then went for one of their guns. At that point it becomes a life and death situation. I even hear now that it was the black cop who shot him.


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I guess the police should go one on one? to be fair? Please…


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BS mkaney. Plain and simple BS. I agree there is no reason(s) for FOUR men to use their batons on mentally ill human being. Three would have been plenty.


What would you have done? Let this homeless pos beat you senseless and walk-away with your baton between your legs. This is a life style with our inner city residents. They will not submit to arrest without a fight. It is a badge of courage for them. It is looked upon as being a coward to submit to police authority.


This anarchist behavior will not change until we can successfully raise a generation with the father in the home and not in State Prison.


Not a one of these human pieces of garbage have a right to life. Once you attack a police officer, you forfeit that right.


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I agree that the police actions were justified in this case, but your speculations on the cause of the resistance are a bit over the top. Do you know this guy or are you just profiling based on generalizations that appeal to your personal prejudices?


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We all make choices.


Some make better choices than others, and those who make poor choices suffer the consequences.

How can people expect NO reaction to ill advised actions and behavior?


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wow, that is some incredible footage. As good as it gets.


On the one hand there’s a half dozen cops taking down one homeless guy. Two of the cops don’t even feel the need to help out as the others are struggling with the homeless guy on the ground.


On the other hand, if the homeless guy goes for a cop’s gun or maybe even actually gets a cops gun in his hands–which appears to be the case by the cops reactions as at least one shoots but multiple pull out their weapons then it’s a good shoot. A cop does not have to wrestle with a guy over his gun. He gets to shoot to end it right there and the mouthy onlookers are just another example of idiot rabblerousers.


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That was a wild little street fight with dozens of onlookers menacingly approaching then retreating but, the video doesn’t really show what caused the officer to draw down on the man and that’s too bad.


Its justified in my mind but, the video will lend fuel to the fire of the downtrodden once again!


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The narrator has quite the vocabulary. I was equally offended by the language as the actual shooting. The shooter will walk, the dead guy shouldn’t of resisted.


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AMAZING the one guy only has a few words in his vocabulary, you try to take a weapon from a police officer , what would you expect ?


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What don’t people understand?

If you fight a cop and grab his gun…they can and will shoot you.

End of story and we as a society had better stop this rush to judgement to make cops look to be the bad guys.


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I don’t have a problem with this happening in circumstances like you describe — and like the ones apparently occurring in this incident. However, there are too many times when the circumstances don’t justify that behavior and that can’t be tolerated either. If the cops who are not inclined to abuse their power and are trained to use good judgment didn’t look the other way or even protectively lie when their brothers in blue do fail, I don’t think that there would be nearly as much criticism of them as there is these days.


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