Sergeant, 5 Officers Broke Department Policy in Fatal 2022 Shooting, LAPD Chief Says
U.S. News & World Report LOS ANGELES (AP) A Los Angeles police sergeant and five officers broke department policy when they opened fire last year on an armed man who refused to follow officers commands, killing him, a police commission found.
The Board of Police Commissioners voted on May 23 to approve a Los Angeles Police Department internal investigation into the fatal shooting of Rodolfo Torres on July 2, 2022, that found the officers use of force was not reasonable or necessary.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said in his internal investigation report to the commission that four other officers who opened fire on Torres were within policy. Two other officers who responded to the scene did not fire their weapons.
On the day of the fatal shooting, two officers were patrolling South Los Angeles when they came upon Torres, 30, who seemed to be under the influence of drugs and had a bulge in his clothing resembling a gun, Moore wrote. One of the officers believed he recognized Torres as someone involved in the illegal sales and manufacturing of firearms, the police chief said.
