CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

The many SWAT and police officers who responded to a deadly hostage situation last year acted appropriately, according to an internal LAPD examination of the incident.

This week, Police Chief William J. Bratton released the findings of a review panel that dissected the harrowing February 2008 incident, in which a mentally ill man killed three family members and SWAT Officer Randall Simmons. Officer James Veenstra was seriously wounded.

The 38-page report offered a dramatic script of how the incident unfolded.

After killing his father and two brothers in their Winnetka home, Edwin Rivera, 20, kept police at bay during an eight-hour standoff that ended with officers killing Rivera. The death of Simmons, who was killed by Rivera during an attempt to apprehend him and rescue any survivors, rocked the tightly-knit SWAT unit and the Los Angeles Police Department as a whole.

Although the officers’ conduct, including their decision to use deadly force, was within department rules, the review panel and Bratton expressed concern about some aspects of the response. For example, communication among the officers was imperfect at times, as inaccurate information about the situation was relayed to responding SWAT officers. Also, the SWAT entry team was not fully briefed before storming the house, the panel concluded.

-- Joel Rubin