3 LAPD Officers Kill Unarmed Motorist

Three Los Angeles police officers shot and killed an unarmed motorist after a pursuit in Cypress Park early Friday because they thought he was pointing a handgun at one of them.

Officers first saw the man, whose identity was not released, speeding in the area about midnight and pursued him for about three minutes.

The man lost control of his vehicle at the intersection of Cypress Avenue and North Figueroa Street and slammed into a traffic signal pole, police said.

After the crash, they said, the motorist ignored repeated requests in Spanish and English to leave the vehicle, police said.

Three officers approached the battered white 1980s Oldsmobile Cutlass to try to take the man into custody, according to a written police statement.

The motorist made “furtive movements” and refused to obey officers’ orders, department officials said Friday.

Officer Carlos Langarica told investigators that as he approached the open passenger window he saw what he believed was a handgun pointing at him, the statement said.

“Officer Langarica yelled ‘Gun’ and in fear for his life fired several rounds,” according the statement.

Simultaneously, police said, Officer Roy Escalante fired several shots at the motorist from his department shotgun. He, too, told investigators he believed the man was pointing a gun at Langarica. A third officer, Lance Dyer, also fired several rounds into the car, police said.

The intersection where the shooting occurred is surrounded by two food establishments, an automobile repair shop and Florence Nightingale Middle School--all empty at the time.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics took the wounded motorist to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. No handgun was recovered, according to police.

All three officers involved in the shooting are from the department’s Northeast Division. Langarica, 27, is a five-year veteran of the LAPD. Escalante, 33, has been with the department for a dozen years. Dyer, 23, joined the ranks just 18 months ago.

The LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division is conducting an investigation, as it does for all officer-involved shootings, police said. As many as seven bullet holes were visible in the car’s rear window after the shooting.

At least 16 shell casings were marked at the scene. One of the bullets flew across the street, leaving a two-inch hole in the window of Cypress Best Charbroiled Burgers. Workers there said the restaurant was closed at the time.

Police say they still do not know why the man refused to stop.

The killing comes at a time when the Los Angeles Police Department is under intense scrutiny in relation to officer-involved shootings.

Just this week, an LAPD officer was charged with shooting an unarmed motorist in the back. That officer, Ronald Orosco, is the second in recent months to face charges in connection with an on-duty shooting.