Thread: California Officer Shot Dead by Gang Member Paroled Only Days Earlier

**UPDATE: Bill O'Reilly just announced
Michael Mejia, 26 was in the country ILLEGALLY!

California Officer Shot Dead by Gang Member Paroled Only Days Earlier

February 21, 2017


Michael Mejia, 26, was identified Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 as the parolee accused of fatally shooting Officer Keith Boyer of the Whittier Police Department.


The scene of the shooting in Whittier. (Fox 11)

A County Sheriff'sVerified account‏@LASDHQ
Our deepest condolences & prayers go out to family & friends
of @whittierpd Ofcr. Keith W. Boyer. #EOW 02/20/17, RIP brother. #LASD


Our deepest condolences & prayers go out to family & friends of @whittierpd Ofcr. Keith W. Boyer. #EOW 02/20/17, RIP brother. #LASD
3:46 PM - 20 Feb 2017

One officer was killed and two others injured Monday morning while responding to a traffic accident in Whittier, California.

Police say the suspect was involved in a traffic accident near Colima Road and Mar Vista Street. After rear-ending another car while driving a stolen vehicle, he approached the driver and helped to push the car to the side of a road around the corner from the scene of the accident.

When the three Whittier officers arrived on scene and approached the suspect, he pulled a gun from his waistband and began to shoot at close range.

“When they get him out of the car, they go to pat him down for weapons, they can see he’s got tattoos all over his face and all over his neck,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Lt. John Corina said.

The 26-year-old suspect who took the life of Officer Keith Boyer is a known gang member – paroled only 10 days earlier.

“It seems like a simple traffic accident and next thing they know they’re in a gunfight,” Corina said, adding that “you never know when you respond to a call, what you are going to run into.”

Whittier Police Chief Jeff Piper broke down in tears recounting Boyer, whom he described as a close friend and beloved member of the department. He said Boyer was a mentor to others in the department and had recently talked about retiring.

“He was the best of the best,” Piper said tearfully during a Monday afternoon news conference. “This is an unbelievably senseless tragedy.”

Piper said the shooting suspect, whose name has not been made public, was released from custody early. He blamed the early release on a series of new laws designed to reduce incarcerations in California.

The chief also said Boyer’s killing showed how California’s laws make the streets less safe.

“We need to wake up. Enough is enough,” he said.

Officer Boyer was a 27-year veteran of the department and is survived by several children. Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri said his death marked the first fatal shooting of a police officer in more than 37 years.



“This is a very sad day for our officers, the families involved, the Whittier Police Department and our community,” Vinatieri said. “But we’re pulling together. And we’re going to take care of these families and we’re going to take care of this police department.”

Hundreds gathered at the Whittier Police Station last night in a candlelight vigil for Officer Boyer. The other officer was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and is in stable condition.



Police chief says Whittier officer's slaying shows danger of
criminal justice reform, but details are unclear


One officer was killed and a second injured in a shootout with a gang member who was wounded, authorities said.

Mejia, who was shot by officers in the deadly gunfight that claimed Boyer's life and left Officer Patrick Hazell wounded, has been arrested and jailed for short stints several times since July. State officials said he was on probation and under supervision of the L.A. County Probation Department.

In July, he violated terms of his release and got 10 days in jail. He was arrested again in September after authorities moved to revoke

The suspect, who was also shot in the incident, is expected to survive.

https://bearingarms.com/jenn-j/2017/...fficer-killed/

‘Known Gang Member’ Suspected of Killing Police Officer in Whittier, Cousin in East L.A.



WHITTIER POLICE OFFICER SHOT, KILLED WHILE RESPONDING TO CRASH; 2ND OFFICER, SUSPECT INJURED



Michael Mejia, 26, was identified Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 as the parolee
accused of fatally shooting Officer Keith Boyer of the Whittier Police Department.

February 21, 2017

The man suspected of killing a police officer in Whittier and his own cousin in East Los Angeles was identified on Tuesday afternoon as 26-year-old Michael Christopher Mejia, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.


Michael Christopher Mejia is seen in
a photo released by the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department.

Mejia, who was released from Pelican Bay State Prison last April, is suspected of fatally shooting Whittier Police Department Officer Keith Boyer and 47-year-old Roy Roger Torres in two separate incidents that happened hours apart on Monday, according to the department.

Torres was shot to death in the 1400 block of Volney Drive in East Los Angeles around 5:30 a.m., according to Rudy Molano with the L.A. County coroner's office.

Less than three hours later, Mejia allegedly opened fire on two police officers in Whittier, killing Boyer and injuring the other, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department said.

The slain officer was described as a veteran of the department who was among "the best of the best," according to Whittier Police Chief Jeff A. Piper.

The second officer, identified as Officer Patrick Hazell, is expected to survive.

Boyer and Hazell were responding to a traffic collision around 8:30 a.m. Monday when the shooting happened, according to sheriff's Lt. John Corina.


Whittier Police Department Officer Keith Boyer
is shown in a photo he posted to his Facebook
page on Nov. 27, 2013.

The suspect, who was driving a vehicle allegedly stolen out of East L.A., had rear-ended a car on Colima Road and Mar Vista Street, a sheriff's news release stated.

When the officers contacted Mejia they asked him to get out of the vehicle and were going to pat him down to check for weapons, according to Corina.

As he exited the car, the suspect brandished a handgun and shot at the officers, who returned fire, the release stated. It was unknown how many shots were fired during the close-range gunbattle.

Mejia was also injured and hospitalized in stable condition.

Authorities initially described him only as a "known gang member" from Los Angeles who was recently paroled on early release. Corina said he had an extensive rap sheet.

A spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Tuesday that Mejia was not on parole, but had been released to the supervision of the county Probation Department in April 2016.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Mejia was sentenced to four years in state prison in 2010 for robbery, and another two-year sentence in 2014 on charges including grand theft auto.

L.A. County jail records show six arrests for a Michael C. Mejia since July 2016, including Monday’s and two others this year.

Mejia was last arrested on Feb. 2 -- his second in 2017 -- for violating his release terms, the Times reported. He served a 10-day sentence before being released again.

"Unbeknownst to the Whittier police officers, when they went to pull the car over, they had a murder suspect ... in a stolen car," Corina said.



Torres was identified as Mejia's cousin.

A GoFundMe page set up to cover the cost of a memorial fund described Torres as a "loving" father, son, uncle and cousin, a sentiment echoed by his niece.

“He was a loving person, he’s give you the shirt off his back if you needed it,” said the woman, who identified herself as Tiffany. “He was like the older brother that I didn’t have.”

A motive for the first shooting remains under investigation.

In a tearful interview, the victim's aunt told KTLA the suspect goes by "Mikey" and lived with his grandfather in Commerce. She said he had a criminal history that dated back to when he was a child.


Roy Torres is pictured in a photo posted to
a GoFundMe account.

“He’s hurt other people before, and he’s been in prison for that. And he should never have been let out. This is who they should keep in prison … he killed other people before," the aunt said through sobs. "There was no need for this to happen."

L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell addressed early release and rehabilitation programs when he spoke alongside Piper at a news conference Monday afternoon.

"We're putting people back on the street that aren't ready to be back on the street," McDonnell said.

Piper, noting he'd seen a rise in violence against officers during arrests, referenced ballot-box propositions approved in the past few years that he said were aiding in increasing crime.

"You have no idea how it's changed in that last four years," the police chief said. "People don't want to follow rules. People don't care about other people."


The suspected gunman in a fatal police shooting is taken away in an ambulance on Feb. 20, 2017. (Credit: OnScene.TV)

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman disputed what the Sheriff's Department said, however, telling KTLA the suspect served his entire sentence and had not been released early.

The suspect was under the supervision of the L.A. County Probation Department, according to Reaver Bingham, the deputy chief of the department.

He had “not fulfilled his obligations” of probation, Bingham said. The suspect was eligible for county supervision under AB 109, a 2011 California law meant to reduce the number of inmates in state prisons.

The suspect, who had served time in a state prison, was released into the supervision of county probation because his offense was considered “non-serious, non-violent, and non-sexual," according to Bingham.

Mejia remains hospitalized and has been booked on suspicion of a probation hold, according to the release. He is being held without bail.

Charges have not yet been filed in the case.

KTLA's Melissa Pamer, Jennifer Thang and Alexandria Hernandez contributed to this story.

http://ktla.com/2017/02/21/man-suspe...fternoon-lasd/

Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer Procession, CA

Feb 20, 2017

Paroled gang member kills California officer responding to traffic accident

Feb 20, 2017

This tragedy,as anothers are on the Gov. Brown hands..early realized criminals, gang members, probably some murders, Sanctuary Cities policy...I just want to know...when cops and citizens going to say...enough is enough..

We have been living in the State with the strongest gun control, so how are we protected from these animals...? More of them coming,by agendas of Sanctuary State, protecting thugs against the people of CA.

So sad, so unnecessary, so uncalled for.

Don't know how anyone can justify allowing mentally unbalanced hot heads to be in this country illegally. Don't deserve to be here, deserve to be wherever they came from - out, get them out!

lorrie wrote (excerpt):

**UPDATE: Bill O'Reilly just announced
Michael Mejia, 26 was in the country ILLEGALLY!

I'm currently watching the O'Reilly (repeat) you watched earlier. From what I heard the guy was not here illegally. He was recently paroled because of prison overcrowding. However, he does have a long criminal history. Just repeating what I heard. I guess one of us misheard what was being reported. O'Reilly did say he first suspected the guy was illegal because it took so long for the police to respond to their calls, however, that didn't end up being the case.

Read before that California has big problems with releasing dangerous people - a judge sits there and decides who should be released. How can you say this one can go, that one can go when in reality they should all be incarcerated? Build more prisons if you have the criminals in such high numbers instead of freeing criminals to be out on the street harming citizens.