Man Killed in Shoot-Out at South Gate Bar

An unarmed man was shot to death by police early Saturday when he ran from a South Gate bar where officers had engaged in a gun battle that left another man critically wounded, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies reported.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Irene McReynolds said South Gate police officers opened fire on the man who died after he ignored repeated orders to halt and “suddenly made a movement which appeared as though he was reaching for a gun.” She said a subsequent search failed to turn up any weapon.

Neither of the men shot by the officers was identified pending notification of next of kin.

McReynolds gave this account of what happened:

South Gate police received a call at about 12:10 a.m. that there was a man with a gun at Rommey’s Bar at 8644 S. Atlantic Ave. Officers responding to the call were met with gunfire and fired back, critically wounding the gunman.

During the gun battle, several men ran from the bar. Back-up officers, searching the area, found one of the men who had fled.

“They called for him to halt, both in English and Spanish, several times,” McReynolds said. “He did not comply.”

When the man made the sudden movement, “the officers, fearing for their lives, opened fire,” McReynolds said.

Both wounded men were taken to Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center, where one died.