The Los Angeles police chief and inspector general determined two officers were justified in fatally shooting Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man, sources told the Los Angeles Times on Friday. Sources say there's DNA evidence that suggests Ford, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, fought for control of one officer's gun.
Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas stopped Ford, 25, walking near his home Aug. 11, reportedly because they believed he was trying to discard narcotics. Chief Charlie Beck will recommend to the civilian Police Commission the officers be cleared, while Inspector General Alex Bustamante will recommend faulting them, LAT reports.
The shooting, just two days after Michael Brown's in Ferguson, Missouri, triggered protests over police brutality against black men.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
Tom Phillips: the manhunt for forest fugitive and his abducted childrenIn the Spotlight Three children recovered safely after four-year manhunt ends in police shootout
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
