Report: LAPD shoots, kills unarmed black man

Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY
11:09 p.m. EDT August 12, 2014

As developments continue to unfold in the case of Michael Brown in St. Louis, details are emerging about the police shooting death of an unarmed black man in South Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a report of a shooting possibly involving a police officer Monday night, Lt. Ellis Imaizumi of LAPD told KTLA 5.

Officers took part in an "investigative stop" and "a struggle ensued," leading police to open fire, KTLA reports the LAPD said.

The man, 24, underwent surgery at a local hospital and died, Officer Sara Faden, an LAPD spokeswoman, told KTLA.

A woman who said she was the mother of the deceased told the news organization that the victim's name was Ezell Ford. The woman, who said her name is Tritobia Ford, told KTLA that her son was lying on the ground and complying with police commands when police shot him three times.

A man who identified himself as a cousin of Ezell Ford told the news organization KTLA that every police officer in the area knows that Ford had "mental problems" and "complications." The man told KTLA that police shot Ezell Ford in the back, and that when Ford's mother approached police asking for information, they pulled out billy clubs.

Police Chief Charlie Beck, the LAPD Office of the Inspector General and Board of Police Commissioners will likely review the incident, KTLA reported the LAPD said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ford/13985607/