FBI Inquiry Focuses on Fatal LAPD Shooting at Watts Housing Project

The FBI is investigating whether Los Angeles police violated the civil rights of Henry Peco, who was fatally shot by officers at a Watts housing project after allegedly firing an assault rifle at them.

“This is a preliminary criminal investigation into possible civil rights violations,” Karen Gardner, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said Friday. “We investigate any and all complaints that are referred to our office.”

The source of the complaint is confidential and Gardner declined to discuss any details relating to the investigation.

The case was opened shortly after the Nov. 29 shooting of Peco at the Imperial Courts housing project, she said. After concluding their investigation, FBI officials will forward their report to the civil rights unit of the U.S. Justice Department, which will determine whether to prosecute.

According to police, Peco was shot after he and two other men opened fire on officers responding to a call of gunshots at the housing complex during a power outage. Authorities say Peco’s two alleged accomplices have implicated him in taped interviews with police.

Peco’s relatives and a tenants’ group have countered that Peco was unarmed and shot without provocation while walking across a courtyard. Police have not recovered the rifle that Peco allegedly fired.

The shooting and a New Year’s Eve sweep at the project have strained relations between police and residents, some of whom have spoken out at two recent Police Commission meetings.

This week, 11 tenants filed claims against the city seeking $1.4 million in damages in connection with alleged police harassment, illegal searches and false arrests.

The residents allege that their civil rights were violated by the New Year’s Eve sweep, in which police arrested 44 people on outstanding warrants.

Police have denied any wrongdoing and said the operation was aimed at arresting those with a proclivity to fire gunshots into the air at midnight.

The claims will be reviewed by the city attorney’s office. Rejection by the city would clear the way for the tenants to seek redress in court.

The FBI inquiry focuses only on the Peco shooting and not tenants’ claims of police abuse.