California Black Media Takes a Look at 17 of the Most High-Profile Police Shooting Cases – Part 2
By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
In this report, The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint presents Part 2 of California Black Media revisitation of the 17 most prominent cases of police deadly force involving African American victims in the state since 1998. As mentioned in last week’s issue, California has one of the highest rates of police shootings in the country.
According to a Washington Post database tracking police killings of civilians since 2015, there have been a total of 661 police-involved shootings in California over the last 4 years. Of that number, California police officers shot and killed 107 African Americans. We review the last 10 law enforcement lethal force shootings highlighted in CBM’s report:
Charley “Africa” Leundeu Keunang, 43 (Los Angeles)
Charley Keunang, a homeless Cameroonian immigrant, was shot and killed by three LAPD officers after he supposedly reached for a cop’s holstered gun during a struggle in the city’s Skid Row area on March 1, 2015.
Keunang was accused of attacking another homeless person and throwing his tent in the streets.
A bystander recorded the melee between Keunang and the officers before the shooting. Keunang was shot six times.
The shooting death attracted worldwide attention when someone posted a Facebook video of the incident.
An autopsy revealed that Keunang had methamphetamine in his system. In 2016, the Los Angeles police commission ruled that the officers’ actions were justifiable and the use of lethal force was necessary.
The Los Angeles City Council approved $1.95 million to settle Keunang’s case. His family had originally sought $20 million from the city.
Brendon Glenn, 29 (Los Angeles)
The city of Los Angeles settled the officer-involved shooting of Brendon Glenn for $4 million in December 2016.
He was an unarmed homeless man who struggled with a Black officer on the Venice beach boardwalk before he was killed on May 5, 2015.
Two officers were responding to a call from a bar that reported a man harassing people. One of the officers said Glenn was trying to reach for his partner’s gun before he made the decision to shoot him.
The shooting was captured on video but the footage, obtained from a nearby bar’s surveillance camera, did not show Glenn’s hands near the officers’ guns at any point.
They city awarded the $4 million settlement to Glenn’s mother and his then 4-year-old son.
Mario Woods, 26 (San Francisco)
In June, the city of San Francisco announced that it will pay the mother of Mario Woods $400,000 in monetary damages.
On Dec. 2, 2015, five cops shot Woods. He was a suspect in a stabbing.
Woods was running away from the police, according to the report, when the officers shot him 21 times, some of the bullets hitting him in the back.
An autopsy found Woods had drugs in his system.
Protests of Woods’ shooting, which was captured on video, led to the resignation of police chief Greg Suhr.
Alfred Olango, 38 (El Cajon)
A former refugee from Uganda, Alfred Olango suffered four wounds to the neck, chest, arm and shoulder when police officers shot him on September 27, 2016. The cops also used a stun gun to shock him twice.
Police claim Olango pulled out a vaping e-cigarette device and pointed it at them in front of a shopping center. Another officer, during the shooting, used a Taser gun, hitting Olango in the buttocks and leg.
A drug test found cocaine in Olango’s system and a small amount of alcohol in his bloodstream.
Olango’s family said he had a mental breakdown after the death of a close friend.
Prosecutors ruled that the El Cajon officer’s actions were justifiable in using deadly force to kill Olango.
Joseph Mann, 51 (Sacramento)
Joseph Mann, a mentally ill and homeless man, was shot and killed by two Sacramento Police Department officers on July 11, 2016. A video, provided by Sacramento Regional Transit and released by the Sac Police Department, graphically showed the final seconds of Mann’s life before he fell to a hail of police gunfire.
One of the police officers tried running Mann over with his cruiser before the cops fired 18 shots. At least 14 of them hit Mann.
The video shows Mann clearly running down the sidewalk. At some point, he turned to face officers in the street who began shooting immediately. The officers, who appeared to be about six or seven paces away from Mann when he fell, said he had a knife.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office backed the actions of the two police officers involved, citing that they “lawfully shot” Mann.
Diante Yarber, 26 (Barstow)
Diante Yarber was fatally shot by Barstow police officers on April 5, 2018 in a Walmart parking lot.
Police say Yarber reversed his Ford Mustang into a patrol car, and then drove forward in the direction of officers, slamming into another police car before they decided to use deadly force.
According to other reports, Yarber drove into the parking lot to pick up someone who was shopping at Walmart.
Police say they believe Yarber was the suspect in a stolen car case. Three other people were in the car with Yarber when the police fired at the vehicle. Only one of the passengers was wounded in the shooting.
Yarber’s family lawyers say he was struck by 10 bullets. Barstow police said a total of 24 rounds were shot at the vehicle.
Prosecutors cleared officers Jimmie Alfred Walker, Jose Barrientos, Vincent Carrillo and Matthew Allen Helms of all charges in Yarber’s shooting.
Walker, who is White, was charged with hate crimes and battery in separate incident in 2010.
Attorneys for Yarber’s family have filed a wrongful death lawsuit. They say their client did not receive proper medical treatment after the shooting and that he choked on his blood.
Yarber left behind three daughters.
Stephon Alonzo Clark, 22 (Sacramento)
On March 2, 2019, nearly one year after Clark was shot and killed in his grandmother’s backyard, Sacramento’s District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced that she would not press charges against the two Sacramento Police Department officers who gunned down the unarmed 22-year-old.
The police officers, Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet, shot and killed Clark in South Sacramento on March 18, 2018. Clark was unarmed and holding a cell phone.
Seven out of about 20 bullets the policemen fired hit the former Sacramento High athlete from the back, according to an independent autopsy report conducted by the family. The official police report says Clark, the father of two infant sons, was facing and approaching officers when they killed him.
He was a vandalism suspect.
Clark’s death sparked protests around the country and in his hometown Sacramento, which led to the shutting down of two Sacramento Kings games at Golden 1 Center.
De’Andre Mitchell, 23 (Torrance)
Christopher De’Andre Mitchell was shot and killed by a Torrance police officer on Dec. 9, 2018, after cops said he didn’t follow their orders to get out of the car.
According to Torrance police chief Eve Irvine, Mitchell reached for a gun he was holding between his legs.
Investigations later found that the weapon was an air rifle.
Mitchell was shot in a Ralph’s parking lot while sitting in 2000 Honda Civic that was reported stolen two days prior, according to the police.
Mitchell died while being treated for injuries after the officers took him out of the car about 37 minutes after the shooting.
Willie McCoy, 20 (Vallejo)
On Feb. 9, 2019, police officers, responding to a 911 call, shot Willie McCoy in his throat and chest.
McCoy, who appeared to be sleeping in his car in a Taco Bell drive-thru when the incident happened, was a rapper also known as “Willie Bo.”
Police said McCoy allegedly woke up and was reaching for a gun on his lap before they shot him.
The Vallejo Police Department has released footage captured on the body-worn cameras of six officers who engaged in using deadly force against McCoy.
In 2012, a third of Vallejo’s homicides resulted from police officer-involved shootings and the city’s police officers used deadly force 38 times the national rate that same year.
