The sheriff’s department says that at about 3:15 p.m. local time two deputies tried to stop Kizzee, who was riding a bicycle “in violation of vehicle codes.” When they approached him, he got off the bicycle and ran.
Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Dean told reporters that deputies caught up to the suspect about a block away, and when they approached him, the man punched one of the deputies in the face and dropped items of clothing he had been carrying.
It was at that point deputies “noticed that inside the clothing items he dropped was a black semiautomatic handgun,” and that’s when both deputies opened fire, shooting the man “several” times, Dean said. Investigators recovered a handgun from the scene.
The man, later identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office as Kizzee, was pronounced dead at the scene; an autopsy is scheduled for later Tuesday. Neither of the deputies were injured, Dean said.
Activist Najee Ali, who is representing the family alongside attorney Ben Crump, denies that Kizzee was a threat at the time of the shooting. “Being in possession of a gun, but actually using a gun, having it in your hands are two different things,” Ali said, adding “he did not point the gun” at officers.
The family is calling for Sheriff Alex Villanueva to release names of the deputies involved and for their “arrest and criminal prosecution,” as well as body cameras to be implemented throughout the force.
“I’m sad and mad at the same time,” Kizzee’s aunt, Fletcher Fair, said in a press conference. “This is not America. This is ridiculous. I don’t know what, what kind of society … We are human. I don’t give a damn what race you are. We are human beings.”
The District Attorney’s Office and Office of the Inspector General are assisting in the investigation.
Police not wearing body cameras
Dean said the deputies have yet to be interviewed and were not wearing body cameras, which are not set to be rolled out until the fall, according to CNN affiliate KABC. The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors planned to vote Tuesday on a transfer of more than $25 million to the sheriff’s department specifically earmarked for body cameras, but opted instead to postpone. There was no explanation for the delay.
Previously, Sheriff Villanueva expressed his support of body cameras, and estimated that it will take about 18 months to fully implement their use.
“How many more times do we have to gather out here, mourning the loss of our brothers and sisters,” one protester told KCBS/KCAL.
LA sheriff’s department under fire in another deputy-involved shooting this summer
Monday’s shooting comes two and a half months after another Los Angeles shooting under scrutiny.
Sheriff’s Capt. Kurt Wegener said at the time that Guardado “reportedly looked toward the deputies” and “produced a handgun” before running down the driveway of the business. The deputies pursued Guardado and caught up to him at the rear of the business, where one deputy fired six rounds, Wegener said.
An independent autopsy ordered by Guardado’s family found the teen was shot five times in the back; the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office came to the same conclusion, and Guardado’s manner of death was certified a homicide.
CNN’s Braden Walker contributed to this report.