PACOIMA : Youth Slain by Police Acted ‘Crazy,’ Mother Says
The mother of a Pacoima teen-ager shot to death by police when he attacked an officer with a broomstick said Tuesday that she asked police to subdue her son because he was “acting crazy”--drinking holy water and claiming to be Christ and Satan--but believes they could have done so without killing him.
“I called police to control him at that moment, not to kill him,” said Santos Salcido, mother of Efrain Santos Lopez, 18, who was killed Monday night.
However, Salcido’s description of her son’s violent behavior before the shooting appeared to support statements by police and witnesses who described Lopez as out of control when he confronted the officers. By her account, she did not see the encounter that led to her son’s death.
Lopez, who police said was an active gang member, was shot nine times by Officer Neil Goldberg as he charged the officer with a broomstick, yelling “Shoot me! Kill me!” police said. Goldberg, a four-year veteran, was placed on non-field duty pending the outcome of a departmental investigation.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
