Armed Teen Struck by 10 Police Bullets, Autopsy Report Shows

An armed Riverside teen-ager killed in a tussle with police was struck by 10 police bullets, including two in the back, according to the Riverside County coroner’s office.

Neither back wound was fatal, according to a preliminary autopsy report released Tuesday.

Riverside police said their preliminary investigation showed Johnny Lozano Jr., 16, was shot Saturday night after pointing a gun at one of two officers who stopped him while on patrol in the Casa Blanca neighborhood. The officers confronted Lozano, because he was walking awkwardly and appeared to be hiding an object behind his back, which turned out to be a gun, police said.

Friends of Lozano who witnessed the incident told reporters that the youth had attempted to surrender the weapon before he was shot. They also said Lozano was shot several times in the back after being pushed to the ground by the officers.

But police said their preliminary investigation showed that gunfire was exchanged between Lozano and the officers during a struggle. One of the officers, Darryl L. Hurt, was struck in the left arm by a bullet, requiring minor hospital treatment.

Chief Deputy Coroner Dan Cupido said Wednesday that preliminary autopsy results show that Lozano was shot six times in the torso, one time in each arm, and twice in the back.

He said it would be “pure speculation” to suggest where the officers’ guns were in relation to Lozano when the shots were fired. But he added that “the bullets that entered the back definitely were not fired straight on.”

“(They) entered the back (at) about the spine and transversed through the shoulder, one in each direction,” Cupido said.

The incident has heightened tensions between police and residents in the working-class, center city neighborhood, which has been hard hit by drug pushers and street gang activity.

“This has hurt police-community relations quite a bit,” said community activist Morris Mendoza. “(Many people) don’t see why he was shot so many times.”

Police spokesman Jim Cannon said that the officers were armed with 9-millimeter semiautomatic handguns, each capable of firing five bullets in three seconds.

“Emotions are high in these types of situations,” Cannon agreed.