Officers Kill Suspect in Shooting After He Appears to Go for Gun

Two police officers seeking a suspect in a fatal drive-by shooting in Southwest Los Angeles shot and killed a 19-year-old man early Monday when he lowered his upraised hands toward his waistband as if reaching for a gun, investigators said.

Lt. William Hall, who heads the Los Angeles Police Department’s officer-involved shooting team, said no gun was found in a subsequent search at the shooting scene, the back of an apartment complex in the 2600 block of South Brighton Avenue.

The name of the dead man was not disclosed pending notification of relatives.

The man, identified as a gang member, was suspected of participating in a shooting shortly after midnight in which a 27-year-old man was shotgunned to death in a parking lot at Adams Boulevard and Normandy Avenue, police said.

The victim’s identity was also withheld.

Single Shotgun Blast

Witnesses told police that five or six male Latinos were standing in the lot when a brown Cadillac carrying three men and a woman drove up and someone in the car fired a single blast, striking the victim in the chest.

When uniformed officers from the Southwest Division responded, they said witnesses pointed out the Cadillac, which still was in the area, and police stopped it, arresting Gennaire Harris, 19, and recovering a shotgun. Harris was subsequently booked for investigation of murder.

Two other suspects were pointed out by witnesses at a nearby service station, according to Hall, but when police sought to arrest them, they fled on foot with officers pursuing them.

Before the fleeing suspects eluded officers, Hall said, one of the men was seen with a handgun. Two officers from the department’s Metropolitan Division were called in to search the area with the aid of a police dog.

Hiding Behind Tree

Officers Harold Moberly, 33, a 12-year veteran, and Larry Maillet, 31, an eight-year veteran, said that when they located one of the suspects, he was trying to hide behind a small palm tree in an ivy-covered area.

At first, the man raised his hands as ordered.

But then, Hall said, “the suspect suddenly reached toward his waistband, which was blocked from the officers’ view by the palm tree, causing both officers to believe that he was reaching for a handgun.”

Moberly fired three times and Maillet once.

“It is not known what precipitated the shooting on Adams Boulevard,” Hall said. “Although both suspects are gang members, it is not believed to be a factor in this shooting.”

He did not elaborate.

If police find the other man and woman who were in the Cadillac, they will also be arrested for investigation of murder, Hall said.

1,000 Extra Officers

Meanwhile, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said he will implement plans this week to flood the streets with an extra 1,000 uniformed officers to help suppress gang violence.

He told reporters at Parker Center on Monday afternoon that the emergency mobilization will be manned with officers working four hours of overtime after their regular eight-hour shifts, so there will be no reduction in the regular patrol force.

“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting volunteers,” the chief said of the plan, which he first announced on Saturday. “This is war.”

Estimating the cost of the overtime at about $150,000 for each deployment, Gates said the City Council and Mayor Tom Bradley have said they are “solidly behind” the emergency mobilization plan, so he expects no problem with financing.

“But we are going to do it this week, regardless of the funding,” the chief said.

While declining to discuss exactly when and where the deployments will occur, Gates said that “if you know where the gangs are, that’s where we’ll be.”

Each time a gang surfaces, “we’ll come back, and boom, we’ll hit them again,” Gates said. “Sooner or later, one side will tire out. We think it’ll be them.

“We’re going to do it until they stop, or get out of town.”