Residents packed a school auditorium Thursday night for a town hall meeting with the LAPD and city leaders following the shooting death of an unarmed homeless man in Venice earlier in the week.
Brendon Glenn was shot Tuesday night during a confrontation with police. He died from his injuries the following day.
On Thursday night, an overflow crowd packed Westminster Elementary School, calling for a full accounting of the events that led up to the shooting of the 29-year-old man, including the release of surveillance video of the incident.
Police initially responded to the area of Pacific and Windward avenues at around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday after Glenn was involved an altercation with a bouncer at a local bar, LAPD Detective Meghan Aguilar said the following morning.
After speaking with officers, Glenn walked away toward the boardwalk, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.
Later, an altercation occurred when two officers attempted to detain him after they observed him starting a fight with someone, according to Beck.
“During that physical altercation, an officer-involved shooting occurred,” Beck said.
The chief added that he had reviewed surveillance video of the shooting, and did not see the “extraordinary circumstances” that would have justified the use of force.
“Any time an unarmed person is shot by a Los Angeles police officer, it takes extraordinary circumstances to justify that, and I have not seen those extraordinary circumstances at this point,” the chief said, expressing his “concern” over the incident.
Beck has not released any specifics about the video and its contents.
When asked about the footage Thursday, the police chief responded, “The investigation is ongoing and … we have a long way to go before we reach any conclusions.”
Sources who viewed the video told the Los Angeles Times that it showed two officers struggling with and then taking Glenn to the ground. Then, as one officer moved away, the man got up and again struggled with the second officer. The first officer then opened fire, the sources said. It was not clear exactly what prompted the officer to fire, the sources told the newspaper.
Investigators on Thursday were expected to interview the officer shot Glenn.
He was not questioned the day before because he was being treated for a hurt knee, and Beck stated that the medication he was on for the injury could interfere with a “fair” interview.
Both officers involved in the shooting have been assigned nonfield duties while the investigation continued. Their names have not been released.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the head of the police officers’ union criticized Beck for “rendering a judgment” on the incident, calling his comments “irresponsible.”
“The premature decision by the chief essentially renders the investigation process void,” wrote Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Beck responded Thursday, telling KTLA in a live interview at the station that he disagreed with Lally’s assertion that he had prematurely judged the matter.
“I think I gave some factual statements about the state of the investigation, being very specific that this is not a conclusion that I’m drawing, and that I will wait for the entire investigation to be presented to me before there is a conclusion,” Beck said.
Editor’s Note: Friends had originally identified the victim as Brendon Glenn, but coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter on Thursday morning gave a different spelling of the man’s first name. Online coroner’s records later indicated the spelling was in fact Brendon Glenn. The story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling.
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