Police Car Hits 2 Boys, Killing One, Officials Say
A police car on routine patrol struck two 14-year-old boys crossing a South Los Angeles street, killing one, authorities said Friday.
The patrol car from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southeast Division was traveling north on South Broadway when it hit the boys, who were crossing 88th Street about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, said police Det. Scott Sherman.
Rafael Ramos of Los Angeles suffered kidney injuries and massive head trauma. He died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, Sherman said.
Riccardo Avalos, also of Los Angeles, was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he was in stable condition.
Witnesses told investigators that the boys were walking outside the crosswalk, Sherman said, but he didn’t know how far outside.
The two officers in the patrol car were interviewed separately at the Southeast station, but Sherman said he still did not “have any reports as to the specific cause of the collision” nor did he know the car’s speed.
Officers with the department’s Special Collision Investigation Division also were reviewing the accident.
“The investigation is still somewhat new,” Sherman said. There are “extensive interviews to be conducted.”
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