Police Cleared in Shooting of Youth at 7-Eleven

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators have concluded that Pomona police acted properly in firing 31 shots at a youth who allegedly fired two shots at them after a robbery early this week.

The 16-year-old, who was struck nine times, was reported in fair condition Wednesday at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

Sheriff’s homicide Detective Mike Scott said eight Pomona officers, responding to a report of a robbery in progress, arrived at a 7-Eleven store at 1001 E. Grand Ave. shortly before 3 a.m. Monday.

When the alleged robber emerged from the store with a gun, $100 and a handful of lottery tickets, Scott said, officers ordered him to “freeze.”

The robber fired twice with a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun, Scott said, but the gun jammed during the second shot.

Four officers, armed with .45-caliber handguns, returned fire, and the robber ran 80 to 100 feet to the street before collapsing, the detective said.

Scott said preliminary blood tests indicate that the youth was under the influence of the drug PCP, which could have caused him to keep running despite numerous bullet wounds.

“I’ve seen a guy on PCP jump off a roof, break both legs and keep running,” Scott said.

Under the circumstances, the detective said, the police action appeared to be justified.

He said the officers were “fearful for their safety. This guy is shooting at them. . . . He doesn’t fall. They don’t want him running down the street firing at someone else. I’m not going to second-guess them.”

Scott said four sheriff’s homicide detectives who investigated the shooting at the request of the Pomona Police Department will submit their report to the district attorney’s office for further review.

Scott said the robbery was captured by a video camera at the store.

A passerby saw the robbery in progress and notified police. Scott said the robbery took eight minutes, and the videotape shows the clerk being marched around the store at gunpoint. The robber not only collected cash, but he took time to get scratch-off lottery tickets, the tape shows.

The clerk had just been through the ordeal of another unrelated robbery two hours earlier, in which $70 was taken, Scott said.

Police Chief Lloyd Wood said that he will await a final report from the Sheriff’s Department but that he believes the officers responded properly.

Investigators said the suspect, whose name was not released, is believed to be a gang member and has been arrested before. A family member said he was on probation but did not provide details.