Three Los Angeles police officers won’t be prosecuted despite their alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man — an incident that was captured on live television — according to a letter from the city’s district attorney, the Huffington Post reported Tuesday.
The letter, written by Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey, was reportedly dated Jan. 29 and said there was “insufficient evidence” to bring charges against the officers involved because it was unclear whether they were acting in self-defense when they shot Brian Beaird, 51.
The incident, which allegedly involved Officers Armando Corral, Leonardo Ortiz and Michael Ayala, occurred on Dec. 13, 2013 after Beaird led police on an hour-long high-speed chase through Los Angeles, according to HuffPost. The chase and fatal shooting were captured on live television by local station KTLA.
Beaird, a National Guard veteran, suffered from mental illness and, his family told the Los Angeles Times, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck found, in an internal investigation conducted in 2014, that the officers were “not justified” in their use of force. According to the report, Beaird was hit by 13 of 21 shots fired, three of which were fatal and were reportedly fired while he was on the ground. At the time of the fatal shooting, Beaird was reportedly unarmed despite officers believing he had a weapon on him, HuffPost reported.
LAPD Commander Andrew Smith told HuffPost that all three LAPD officers may face termination and are currently off duty without pay.
The Beaird family received a $5 million settlement after the incident, according to the Times.
As disgusting as this incident is, I am not surprised. Police never suffer for their actions. This was cold blooded murder. Jackie Lacey is doing a piss poor job
Did I read that right? – The three fatal shots fired were fired while the man was on the ground? Was he already properly subdued? If so, how is that not grounds for charges of some kind? I am very concerned for officers in these sorts of situations, but I also have very serious concerns about how so many questionable situations like these are coming to light and the outcome nearly always is no or insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
What a very disturbing mix of facts to deal with.
Doesn’t matter if it’s caught on tape or filmed live - police end up walking.
One would think that a fiscal conservative would have a vested interest in holding police accountable and preventing or reducing the number these incidents, because $
That’s correct so wearing cameras isn’t going to do a damn bit of good.