California teen accidentally killed by deputies shooting at dog
A 17-year-old boy and his dog were fatally shot by deputies early Thursday morning after the pit bull attacked a deputy in Palmdale, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
PALMDALE, Calif. -- A 17-year-old boy and a dog were fatally shot by deputies early Thursday morning after the pit bull attacked a deputy in California, according to authorities.
The incident occurred about 3:47 a.m. in the 38500 block of 10th Street East, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
Deputies at the scene said they initially responded to a report of loud music at a party. As they were conducting an investigation, one of the deputies was allegedly bitten by a pit bull. The deputy was not seriously injured.
The dog was restrained by a person at the scene, but as the investigation continued, the animal got loose again and charged at the deputies, authorities said. The deputies then opened fire on the pit bull.
Amid the shooting, a friend of the dog's owner allegedly raced around a corner in an effort to apprehend the animal. Caught in the crossfire, the teen was struck at least once in the upper torso, sheriff's deputies said.
He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name was not immediately released.
Homicide Bureau detectives responded to the scene, where a section of 10th Street was closed.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the sheriff's department at (323) 890-5500.
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PALMDALE, Calif. – Authorities say sheriff's deputies killed a 17-year-old boy while shooting at a dog outside a home early Thursday morning, reports CBS Los Angeles.
The station reports that according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the teen, who was identified by family as Armando Garcia, was likely struck by a bullet that ricocheted off the driveway.
Deputies were checking on a house party at about 3:47 a.m. when they were reportedly confronted by a pit bull. At some point, Garcia came outside to check on the dog, which had bitten a deputy on the leg, LASD said. Deputies opened fire on the dog, and one of the bullets struck the boy.
"We believe that when the individual came out from behind the building, which was approximately 40 feet away from where the shooting occurred, he may have been struck by one of the skip rounds. And it is what we're calling an extremely, extremely unfortunate incident," LASD Capt. Chris Bergner said at a Thursday morning news conference.
Garcia was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"My nephew was trying to save the dog because the cops started shooting at the dog," the victim's aunt, Amber Alcantar, told CBS Los Angeles. "He put his life on the line for an animal that wasn't even his."
The deputy who was bitten by the dog was also struck by a ricocheting bullet and was taken to a hospital for treatment, Bergner said. The dog was shot three or four times, L.A. County animal control confirmed. It was taken to a veterinary hospital to undergo surgery, but had to be euthanized.
With the kind of reckless and heavy-handed police we have, who needs the terrorists?
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Los Angeles County reckless sheriff’s deputies accidentally shot and killed a teenager in Palmdale early Thursday when their bullets bounced off the ground as they opened fire on an aggressive dog, sheriff’s officials said.
The 17-year-old was struck in the chest by at least one “skip” round several yards from the deputies, who may not have noticed the teenager in the darkness when they fired several rounds at a charging pit bull just after 3:40 a.m., officials said.
Moments earlier, the dog had bitten one of the deputies in the knee and the teenager had restrained the animal so that it wouldn’t attack again. The deputy bitten by the dog was also struck by a fragment of a bullet that bounced off the ground in the shooting.
A family member identified the teen as Armando Garcia, who had attended R. Rex Parris High School in Palmdale.
In a news conference at the scene hours after the shooting, Capt. Christopher Bergner of the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau said it appeared that both the teen and the deputy had been struck by rounds that ricocheted off the ground when deputies fired at the charging animal.
“He may have been struck by one of the skip rounds in what we’re calling an extremely, extremely unfortunate incident,” Bergner said. “Our initial impression was [the deputies] didn’t even see the individual coming around from the side of the building.”
Authorities said deputies had gone to an apartment complex in the 38500 block of 10th Street East around 3:40 a.m. in response to a call about a loud party. As they arrived, a pit bull charged at them and bit one of the deputies in the left knee, Bergner said.
The teenager, restrained the animal and brought it to the rear of the complex, which was around a corner, Bergner said. Meanwhile, the deputies retreated from the home to call for backup and medical units, who arrived and checked on the bitten deputy’s injuries.
At some point, the pit bull broke free and charged at the deputies again.
Bergner said the dog was a full-grown male that weighed 60 to 65pounds and was five to seven feet away from the deputies when they opened fire.
The dog was struck and retreated to a carport area at the rear of the complex, the Sheriff’s Department said. Deputies decided to try to corral the dog to prevent anyone else from being attacked, but as they approached the carport they saw the boy on the ground wounded.
Deputies provided medical aid before paramedics arrived and took him to Antelope Valley Hospital, where he died.
Garcia’s aunt, Amber Alcantar, said deputies told her the teen was shot while trying to stop the dog from attacking deputies a second time.
Alcantar said she heard a knock on her door in the early morning. It was Garcia’s friend, who was frantically looking for the boy’s mother.
The youngster was holding a pair of bloodied shoes. They were Garcia’s, Alcantar said.
"Obviously something was wrong," the aunt said. She and Garcia’s mother went to two hospitals in search of him, but couldn’t find him and eventually returned home.
The dog's owner declined to give her name because “she had too many things going on with the law right now.”
She said the dog is a 3-year-old blue-nosed pit bull. Her home is used as a local hangout by some of the neighborhood kids.
“They are all my friends,” the woman said. “They are good kids. They come over and they listen to music.”
She said that, like on any ordinary night, the neighborhood kids were hanging out early Thursday and listening to music. Her dog was off its leash, but is well-mannered, she said.
She was skeptical at deputies’ claims that her dog attacked them.
“That's not my dog. That's not his personality,” she said.
After the shooting, deputies hauled her pit bull and Chihuahua away.
“They took the dog, but [Garcia] lost his life. That's not justice," she said.
The deputy who was bitten and later struck by a bullet fragment was treated at another local hospital and was released, Bergner said. The dog was shot and survived but will be euthanized.
Under the department’s use-of-force policy, deputies are allowed to fire at animals if they “reasonably believe” that they’re about to be killed or be seriously injured by the animal.
Bergner said any time a deputy fires a duty weapon, he or she is put on temporary desk duty while the incident is investigated.