Panel Orders New Probe of Officer in Gunfire Incident

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday ordered police officials and the civilian inspector general to reopen the investigation into a controversial 1999 shooting involving two officers known on the streets of the LAPD’s Southeast Division as “Batman and Robin.”

The commission, following a recommendation by Chief Bernard C. Parks, unanimously ruled last year that Officer William Ferguson was within department policy when he fired two rounds at a teenager who allegedly pointed a gun at him from the window of a crack house.

Commissioners, however, were not told at the time of their vote that Ferguson’s role in the shooting was--and still is--the subject of an active criminal investigation. Nor were commissioners told that police officials had obtained a search warrant for the officer’s locker, where they seized a replica weapon that internal affairs detectives believed was “to be used as planted evidence,” according to police documents.

Those facts and other key information related to the shooting investigation were disclosed in an article in The Times on Tuesday. The commission is the final arbiter on all police-involved shootings like the February 1999 incident, in which no one was injured.

“In view of all the new information that has come out, we want to see if the department can support its previous conclusion,” said Police Commissioner Dean Hansell. “If that recommendation can no longer be supported, then it should be modified.”

After a closed-door briefing by Parks, commissioners Tuesday said they believed the chief’s explanation that he was unaware of the criminal investigation into the shooting when he made his recommendation. There is no evidence that Parks intentionally withheld information from them, the commissioners said.

“Based on what we heard today, it may be an example of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing,” Hansell said.

Commissioners said the department and the inspector general are going to have to pore over the initial officer-involved shooting information and compare it with the new information that has been uncovered by the internal affairs probe.

Commission President Raquelle de la Rocha said many witnesses in the case have offered conflicting statements at different times.

“It’s a mess. What can you say?” de la Rocha said.

The incident occurred in February 1999. According to the initial police report, Officer Ferguson and his partner, Jeffrey Robb, arrived at a Southeast Division home on a routine narcotics investigation. The officers said it turned potentially deadly when a teenage drug dealer pointed a weapon at them--prompting Ferguson to fire two shots, which missed their target.

Those in the house, however, insisted that the officers tried to provoke a shooting. At one point, they said, an officer fired into the home, his shot grazing the head of a female occupant.

Many questions remain unresolved. Among them: The apparent disappearance of Ferguson’s shell casings and the fact that none of the officers present reported having fired the shot at the woman. It was captured on the tape of a 911 call made by another occupant.

De la Rocha said commissioners want to ensure that they get all the available information when they probe future shootings.

Adding to the suspicion in the case are the comments of a sergeant who was the “incident commander” on the night of the shooting.

In interviews with The Times, Sgt. Warren “Ken” Brooks contends he saw Ferguson pull a gun from his rear waistband, plant it under a bed and then claim that it was the weapon that the young gang member pointed at him.

In a previous interview with internal affairs officers, however, Brooks said he saw Ferguson with a gun. At that time, Brooks did not explicitly allege that it was planted.

Brooks, who is on a stress leave and is suing the LAPD, said he told two captains about his observations that night and they assured him that detectives would address it as part of their investigation. The captains denied that Brooks ever made such statements to them.

Speaking to reporters after the commission’s closed session, Chief Parks said he still believes Officer Ferguson’s decision to fire was within department rules.

Through their attorneys, Ferguson and Robb have declined to comment on the incident.

Robb resigned last year amid unrelated misconduct charges. Ferguson is relieved of duty pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.