FBI Launches Investigation of LAPD Shooting : Police: A man who hoped to join the Compton police force was slain during what officers said was a gun battle. But relatives dispute the official description. Federal agency will determine if civil rights charges should be filed.

The FBI disclosed Friday that it has launched a preliminary investigation into whether the Los Angeles Police Department violated the civil rights of a southeast Los Angeles man who was slain by two LAPD officers in a shooting in April.

FBI spokesman Steven E. Berry said the bureau would forward its findings to the Justice Department’s civil rights division in Washington, where it will be determined if charges should be filed.

The investigation deals with the April 5 shooting of Darrell Harts, 30.

According to the official police version, two officers were on patrol near 93rd and Main streets and approached Harts after hearing gunshots. They reportedly engaged in a gun battle with Harts after he fired a pistol at them.

But the police account has been challenged by Harts’ friends and relatives, who say it is inconceivable that he would have shot at police because he was friendly with many officers and was trying to become a police officer. Compton Police Department officials have said Harts was on their waiting list to be hired at the time of his death.

Harts’ supporters contend that he was killed to keep him from testifying in an upcoming police brutality trial after he saw a Los Angeles officer strike a man in the face, breaking his jaw and shattering 10 teeth. Assistant City Atty. Philip Sugar, who represents the officers charged in that case, called those allegations outrageous.

Harts’ family has filed a wrongful death claim against the city and has said it plans to file a civil suit against the city, the Los Angeles Police Department and the involved officers.

The LAPD’s officer-involved-shooting unit has completed its review of the case and sent its findings to the department’s Use of Force Review Board, Lt. William Hall said. After the board completes its review, its report will be sent to Police Chief Willie L. Williams and then to the Police Commission for a decision on whether the shooting was conducted within LAPD policy.

The district attorney’s office has been conducting its own inquiry to see if criminal charges are warranted. That investigation is nearly completed, a spokesman said.