Alarcon Urges Reward of $25,000 in Slaying
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Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alarcon will introduce a motion today requesting that the City Council offer a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons who killed Jaret Harris earlier this year.
Alarcon was joined Thursday by LAPD investigators and Harris’ parents at Pacoima’s Hubert Humphrey Park, where the 18-year-old Kennedy High School star football player was shot to death.
“I’m sorry we have to offer a reward to find my son’s killers,” said his mother, Barbara Harris. “This is a case that has to be solved so we can have peace.”
According to police, Harris was fatally shot Aug. 17 by gang members loitering in the park as Harris rode past on a bicycle.
Many in the community think that a series of killings, around the same time, of young African American men--including Harris-- were racially motivated.
After the killing, pastors and community leaders held meetings and events as a symbol of community unity against gangs and violence, Alarcon said. In one event, about 600 people showed up and joined hands, encircling the park.
On Thursday, police said they did not know the motive for Harris’ killing and could not say if it was racially motivated.
“Whether it was racially motivated, I don’t know,” Alarcon said. “We . . . have to be patient with our analysis.”
Investigators said that witnesses saw the assailants running away from the shooting, but were unwilling to provide police with names.
“We get to the point when we need additional information,” said Capt. Ronald Bergmann of the LAPD Foothill Division. “We need someone to pinpoint. . . . We need to find out who the main player was.”
Anyone with information should call Foothill detectives at (818) 834-3115.
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