LOS ANGELES (AP) — An autopsy report released Monday shows that a 25-year-old black man killed in a confrontation with Los Angeles police this summer was shot three times, including in his right side, right arm and his back.
The report on the autopsy of Ezell Ford by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office had been ordered withheld by police for months to avoid tainting potential witness statements.
Ford was unarmed when police confronted him on a street near his home Aug. 11. Police said officers tried to speak to him but ended up in a struggle and shot him when he tried to grab an officer’s gun.
The autopsy report stated that a muzzle imprint was found around the back wound and coroner’s investigators noted abrasions to Ford’s left hand, forearm and elbow.
Steve Lerman, an attorney for Ford’s parents, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Ford’sparents have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit and $75 million claim against the city.
The suit said two gang officers involved in the shooting — Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas — knew Fordfrom the neighborhood and were aware he had mental problems.
The suit also claimed that the city, LAPD and 10 unnamed superiors or other officers were part of a culture that tolerated civil rights violations, including racial profiling and excessive force against blacks.
The withholding of the autopsy report became an issue itself, but in November, Mayor Eric Garcetti promised that it would be released before year’s end.
Tyler Izen, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said in a statement that the autopsy presented only “one set of facts among many hundreds being collected and assessed in the ongoing investigation.”
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