Wave Staff and Wire Reports
HOLLYWOOD — A man who was fatally shot by police in Hollywood July 15 was carrying a metallic butane lighter “with a pistol-like grip handle,” Police Chief Michel Moore told the Police Commission July 20.
The Los Angeles Police Department initially reported that the unidentified man had a replica handgun, and under a new state law, the state Attorney General’s Office is investigating the circumstances of the shooting. The law took effect on July 1. Attorney General Rob Bonta was a co-author of the legislation while serving in the Assembly.
“As we work to gather all of the facts, I’m grateful to the LAPD for their ready collaboration and quick and committed efforts to work with us on the ground,” Bonta said. “We will take every step necessary to ensure a thorough, impartial investigation and review is completed.
“Now, more than ever, we must work together in the spirit of this new law to build and maintain trust in our criminal justice system for all of our communities.”
Bonta said once the investigation is completed, it will be turned over to the state Department of Justice’s special prosecutions section for independent review.
The legislation was adopted last year amid growing calls by civil rights leaders and activists for greater oversight and accountability in fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians. The concerns were fueled largely by the death of George Floyd while being arrested in Minneapolis in May 2020.
The shooting happened around 11:20 a.m. in the 6700 block of Hollywood Boulevard, east of Highland Avenue. Officers say the department received a report of a man with a gun, and when they arrived, the man pointed the pistol-like lighter at officers. An officer opened fire, striking the man, who was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead shortly after, according to Moore.
A female bystander sustained an unspecified injury and was taken to a hospital in unknown condition. No officers were injured in the shooting.
Detectives were interviewing witnesses and “people who may be the victims of assaults by the suspect,” according to an LAPD statement.