Ever heard about a drive-by shooting? Anaheim police claim yesterday that two of its officers were nearly part of a drive-by stabbing–and that's why they had to shoot the assailant dead.
The incident began around 2:40 p.m., when a motorcycle cop pulled a brown Chevy Suburban over near La Palma Park. “At some point, a suspect that was completely unrelated to that traffic stop, stopped his pickup truck, exited with an 8- to 12-inch kitchen-type knife and charged at the officer,” Anaheim Police Department spokesman Lt. Eric Trapp tells the Weekly. “The officer retreated and what we believe was the initial officer-involved shooting occurred.”
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The story doesn't end there. Another cop driving nearby saw what happened and stopped to back her colleague up. Police say the man then focused his attention on her and began charging. The female cop opened fire at that point. The shooting finally killed him.
Paramedics treated the still unnamed man on scene before transferring him to UCI Medical Center in Orange. (See above photograph). Medical staff pronounced him dead at 3:15 p.m. yesterday. He's being solely described as a “Hispanic male in his 30s” by police at this time. Neither officer sustained any injuries.
As always, the Orange County District Attorney's (OCDA) office is investigating the shooting. Michael Gennaco's Office of Independent Review (OIR) will be reviewing the incident on behalf of the city and the APD is also doing an internal probe.
Theresa Smith and Donna Acevedo, mothers of sons slain by Anaheim police in 2009 and 2012 respectively, also were present as civilians. “We're the real police oversight,” they told Deputy Chief Julian Harvey. The OCDA investigators actually bothered with questioning them.
Yesterday's shooting is the third this year for Anaheim police, all of which have been fatal. Authorities have also claimed that all involved were armed with some type of weapon at the time officers fired.
We'll see y'all back when T-Rack's crew releases their investigative letter for more details, Tennessee v. Garner citations and the likes.
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Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!