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Monday, Dec 17, 2012 9:45 PM UTC

Fatal Pasadena police shooting ruled lawful

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Topics: From the Wires,

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The district attorney’s office concluded Monday that Pasadena police officers responding to a robbery report acted lawfully when they shot to death a suspect who turned out to be unarmed.

The officers shot Kendrec McDade, 19, during a nighttime encounter on March 24 after a man reported two men robbed him of a backpack at gunpoint.

A Dec. 17 letter from the district attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division to Pasadena police Chief Phillip L. Sanchez said an investigation concluded the officers “acted in lawful self-defense and in defense of others.”

The letter said that Oscar Carrillo, the man who reported being robbed, mentioned a gun eight times during a 911 call, and that dispatch advised Officers Matthew Griffin and Jeffrey Newlen that both suspects were armed.

Carrillo later acknowledged he lied about guns in hopes of getting a faster police response, the letter said.

An analysis included in the letter described the officers pursuing the fleeing McDade by car and on foot, his left arm swinging back and forth in a running motion but his right hand clutching his waistband.

McDade was running on a sidewalk when he suddenly turned into the street and headed directly at Griffin, who was in his patrol car and opened fire because he believed McDade was about to shoot him while confined in the vehicle, the letter said.

Newlen, who was on foot at that point, also opened fire, believing McDade was firing at Griffin, the letter said.

Pasadena police arrested Carrillo for investigation of involuntary manslaughter, but prosecutors haven’t filed charges against him. Carrillo’s lawyer has claimed Pasadena police were scapegoating his client.

McDade’s family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit and a claim against the city of Pasadena and five officers.

In May, a 17-year-old youth who had been with McDade, appeared in juvenile court and acknowledged his role in the theft that led to the shooting.

The minor made the admission — the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty plea — to two felony counts of burglary, one count of grand theft and a misdemeanor count of failing to register as a gang member. He wasn’t identified because of his age.

A court commissioner sentenced him to six months at a community camp program.

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