Officer Who Shot Colleague Reported Being Harassed

Just before he shot an off-duty colleague, an undercover police officer radioed to his partners that he was being followed and harassed by an agitated motorist, sources said Wednesday.

The radio transmission from Los Angeles Det. Frank J. Lyga, sources said, could help support his contention that he shot Officer Kevin L. Gaines in self-defense Tuesday at a Studio City intersection.

Police sources also said that Gaines, a six-year LAPD veteran, had a discipline record. He had been the focus of an internal investigation when he was killed. Family members and colleagues, however, described Gaines, 31, as an affable man and a good cop, and asserted that he believed he was the target of racial bias at work.

Investigators said Tuesday’s incident began with a simple stare between Lyga and Gaines when both were stopped at a traffic signal on Cahuenga Boulevard. It quickly escalated into a verbal confrontation. Lyga pulled away and informed his colleagues by radio that he was having trouble.

“He put out his concerns,” one source said.

Another source said Lyga told other officers that he was being pursued by an irate motorist.

A couple of blocks to the south, Gaines pulled up next to Lyga. According to a source close to the investigation, the detective said he heard Gaines shout words that he took to mean he could be shot.

Lyga glanced over and saw a gun pointed at him, the source said.

“Fearing that he was about to be shot, Lyga drew his duty weapon and fired two rounds in the direction of the suspect,” according to a statement released Wednesday by the LAPD.

Lyga, 40, had just finished an undercover drug operation and was dressed in grubby clothes to look like a dealer. Police said Lyga had no idea that Gaines was a police officer when he shot him. Gaines apparently was also unaware that Lyga was an officer, the LAPD said.

The shooting stunned police and community leaders, who were appalled that two veteran officers would let a traffic squabble escalate into lethal gunplay.

“The whole department is probably feeling some embarrassment,” one police official said. “I mean, this is insane. [Gaines] was a policeman--we’re not supposed to be doing this kind of stuff.”

Los Angeles police spokesman Lt. Anthony Alba called the shooting “truly a bizarre situation.”

Leonard Ross, president of the Oscar Joel Bryant Assn., a black police officers group, said the initial accounts of the shooting didn’t make sense to him.

“I have concerns about the shooting at this point,” Ross said. “At face value, it doesn’t seem to add up. I think a lot of questions still need to be answered.”

Gaines’ family also questioned the official version of events, saying they did not believe he would pull a weapon without provocation. In addition, relatives recalled that he had run into trouble before with some of his fellow officers.

An Aug. 16 encounter with officers from the North Hollywood station prompted Gaines to file a claim against the city and sparked an internal police investigation.

According to Gaines’ claim, filed in November, “a number of officers” were dispatched to a Studio City house to investigate a report of a shooting. Property records identify the owner as Sharitha Knight, the estranged wife of rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight.

Gaines had been separated from his wife, according to court papers. A police source said he had been dating Sharitha Knight. Gaines was driving her 1995 Mitsubishi Montero when he was killed, authorities said. She could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

In the August incident, Gaines alleged that he was pushed and then placed in handcuffs while the officers searched the residence despite his protests, the claim says.

The claim also says officers found “no evidence of foul play or gunplay.” It adds that Gaines was detained and taken to the North Hollywood police station, and accused of being under the influence of drugs. A test turned up “no signs” of drugs, the claim says.

According to police sources, Gaines was uncooperative and a confrontation ensued. One source said Gaines was described as “profane” as well as “belligerent and uncontrollable.” He bumped other officers, the source said, and had to be handcuffed.

The incident prompted an internal investigation, which was nearly complete, a source said, adding that Gaines had also been the subject of prior allegations of misconduct. The August incident was “the tip of the iceberg,” the source said.

The officers inquiring into the August incident drove to the scene of the shooting Tuesday to confer with investigators.

Attorney Milton Grimes, who filed the claim on Gaines’ behalf, said the August incident had made his client feel that he was the victim of racial discrimination.

Some activists said Wednesday that they were concerned that race may have played a part in the shooting Tuesday. Gaines was black and Lyga is white.

Carol Watson, co-chairwoman of Police Watch, a group that monitors excessive force complaints, said she is concerned that Lyga may have overreacted during the traffic dispute because Gaines was black.

“There is a strong pattern of police violence against African American people,” Watson said. “There tends to be an overreaction and an unnecessary use of force against black people. We will be following this.”

As investigators grasped for explanations in the shooting, Gaines’ family and friends grieved. They described him as an easygoing, caring father of two--and as professionally ambitious.

Gaines had just passed his exam to become a training officer for the LAPD, friends said, and had been poring over real estate and investment books in an effort to ensure his financial security.

“He was a great father, a nice brother,” said his brother-in-law Tony Blalock, his voice choking. “He had goals for himself, you know? For something like this to happen--it’s just not right.”

Other relatives also wondered whether there was a racial element to the shooting.

“My feeling is just total disbelief,” said Thomas Blalock, another brother-in-law. “It couldn’t have happened the way they said it did. I think he got into it with some white officer there. . . . I think the LAPD is already trying to whitewash it, to cover it up. . . . They’re saying he pointed first--that’s just not Kevin. He doesn’t have a temper.”

Thomas Blalock said Gaines told him that white officers at one station where he had worked taunted and harassed Gaines because he drove a nice car and wore nice clothes. Once, a supervising officer told Gaines to play down his comfortable lifestyle, Blalock said.

“It would be OK if a white cop had these toys, but they figured a black cop couldn’t afford it,” he said. “They couldn’t stand it. He felt there was a lot of animosity.”

Police officers at the Pacific Division, where Gaines had worked for about a year, expressed sadness Wednesday.

“He was a good officer,” Lt. Ann Young said. “He was well-liked here. We’re all mourning his loss. He had a lot of friends here, classmates from the academy. We’re going to miss him at the station.”

Other officers, meanwhile, spoke highly of Lyga, who remained at home in Ventura County on Wednesday.

Lyga, who frequently teaches at the Police Academy, is considered an expert in street-level drug dealing, particularly in methamphetamines.

“This detective is rock-solid,” said a police source who knows Lyga. “He would never do anything half-cocked.”

Tuesday’s shooting is being investigated by the LAPD’s robbery/homicide detectives. Their findings will be submitted to the police chief and to the Police Commission for review and, if a crime is alleged, to the district attorney’s office.

As of Wednesday, the district attorney’s office had “not been consulted” on the case, spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. Referring to police, she added, “We don’t know if they’re going to bring us a case or not.”

Times staff writers Alan Abrahamson, Matt Lait and Jim Newton contributed to this story.