Protesters Demand Answers After Bicyclist Shot, Killed By Deputies In South LA
SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – One day after a possibly armed Black man was shot and killed by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies -- sending hundreds of protesters flooding into the streets -- several questions about the shooting still remained unanswered.
29-year-old Dijon Kizzee was shot and killed by deputies after they attempted to stop him for a code violation while he was riding his bicycle near West 109th Place and South Budlong Avenue at around 3:15 p.m. Monday.
Kizzee ran from them, prompting a foot chase. When deputies caught up to him, they allege he punched one of them in the face. During the scuffle, he dropped some clothes he was carrying and they saw a semiautomatic handgun, prompting them to open fire on him, the sheriff's department reports.
It's unclear if Kizzee actually aimed the weapon at the deputies, or how many deputies fired on him.
"Our suspect was holding some items of clothing in his hands, punched one of the officers in the face and then dropped the items in his hands," Sheriff's Lt. Brandon Dean told reporters Monday night. "The deputies noticed that inside the clothing items that he dropped was a black semiautomatic handgun, at which time a deputy-involved shooting occurred."
Cell phone video from the scene showed deputies rendering first aid on Kizzee, but he died at the scene. No deputies were hurt. A handgun was recovered at the scene.
Sheriff's officials could not immediately confirm to CBSLA what the code violation was which prompted the initial traffic stop on Kizzee.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Tuesday morning that a cousin of Kizzee works in the department, but did not provide details.
On Tuesday afternoon, a group gathered to march from the site of the shooting to march to the South L.A. Sheriff's Station located at 1310 W. Imperial Highway for the second day in a row.
On Monday, hundreds of Black Lives Matter demonstrators swarmed the shooting scene and then marched to the station, where they remained into early Tuesday morning before dispersing.
"The police kill another Black man, another Black person, we're tired of the injustice, we're tired of the police brutality, we're tired of being looked upon as fourth-class citizens, we're tired of just not being treated equally," protester Raheem Taylor told CBSLA.
There were some reports of vandalism during the march, but there was no violence and no arrests. Protesters also spray painted some inflammatory messages outside the station.
The shooting occurred just one day before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to vote on a motion to purchase hundreds of body cameras for deputies, who currently are not required to wear them.
"Why doesn't the L.A. County Sheriff have bodycams?" asked Earl Ofari Hutchinson Tuesday, president of the L.A. Urban Policy Roundtable. "All we have to go on with this latest shooting is one thing: their word."
This comes after the fatal shooting of a Black man in Pasadena also sparked major protests. On the night of Aug. 15, 32-year-old Anthony McClain was killed by Pasadena police following a traffic stop. Police said that McClain was also armed.
