FBI to Investigate Police Slaying
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Wednesday that it has launched a preliminary investigation into the death of a South-Central Los Angeles man who was shot by police on his porch after he called 911 to report a disturbance.
Earlier this week the family of Justice Hasan Netherly, 47, filed a $120-million claim against the city.
The FBI will begin gathering facts and compile a report on the Netherly shooting, said spokesman John Hoos. The report will go to the Department of Justice’s civil rights division for possible prosecution, Hoos said.
Police say Netherly was killed after he confronted an officer on his front porch. He was brandishing a large stick, police contend, which the officer thought was an ax.
But Cameron Stewart, the attorney for Netherly’s family, and a neighbor who said he witnessed the incident contend that the shooting victim did not have a stick and that the officer was more than 25 feet away when he fired the fatal shot.
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