LAPD To Host Town Hall Meeting In Venice To Discuss Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Homeless Man
VENICE (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles Police Department will host a community meeting in Venice Thursday to discuss the on-going investigation into the fatal shooting of an unarmed homeless man.
Protesters staged a "die-in" Venice Beach and homeless youth were expected to hold a candlelight vigil at 7:30 p.m. tonight in response to the shooting Tuesday, when two officers responded to a disturbance call around 11:20 p.m. on Windward Avenue just west of Pacific Avenue, according to police.
When they arrived, they discovered 29-year-old Brendon Glenn struggling with a bouncer from the Townhouse bar.
Police say they attempted to detain him, and when he reportedly engaged in a physical altercation with one of the officers, Glenn was shot. He was transported to a local hospital where he later died.
Timothy Pardue, who works at Venice P.A.D. (Protection and Direction), a drop-in spot for homeless people and troubled young adults located about 40 feet from the site of the shooting, said the suspect had been coming in for services and struggled with alcohol and drug addictions.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday he was "very concerned" about the shooting as he had yet to see evidence to justify the incident.
But Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents LAPD officers, said it is too early to suggest the shooting may have been improper and called Beck's comments "completely irresponsible".
"As the final trier of fact in the use-of-force investigation and disciplinary process, the premature decision by the chief essentially renders the investigation process void," Lally said.
In a statement this morning, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, called on Beck to authorize a review of the videotape of the shooting by a panel of civil rights leaders "to determine whether (Glenn) posed an imminent threat to the officers."
"A review of the videotape by a civil rights leaders panel would be a first by a police department and civil rights leaders," Hutchinson's statement said. "It would be a bold step by LAPD Chief Beck to fulfill his pledge of complete transparency in the investigation of the slaying."
Beck said the officer involved was expected to be interviewed Thursday. He has been on medication for a knee injury.
The town hall meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at Westminster Elementary School, 1010 Abbot Kinney Boulevard.
