[dropcap size=big]F[/dropcap]ollowing the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, this week in Los Angeles, the Sheriff’s Department shot and killed a man in Westmont, the LAPD shot a man in North Hollywood and later that day a CHP officer plowed into a group of protestors. These are the most recent use of force incidents in Los Angeles County and the week isn’t even over yet.
On Tuesday, a day after the George Floyd video surfaced on social media, a man in South L.A. was shot and killed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department at around 5 PM. The shooting occurred near the corners of 109th Street and Budlong Avenue in Westmont, an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County, less than a mile away from the L.A. County Sheriff’s South L.A. headquarters.
The shooting victim was described by the sheriff’s department as a “Hispanic male” that was a suspect in a nearby murder a few weeks ago. According to Lieutenant Robert Westphalt of the LASD Homicide Division, the shooting occurred after undercover sheriff’s identified the man and he fled. According to Westphalt, the man produced a handgun and pointed it at sheriffs before the deputy-involved shooting occurred.
Community members identified the victim as 18-year-old Robert Avitia aka Sykes, a lifelong resident of 110th and Budlong according to friends. In a video posted on Instagram, a reported witness of the shooting and close friend of Avitia’s details the incident. According to the witness and video footage, Avitia was up against three Sheriffs barricaded behind a parked car. After being shot once, Avitia reportedly tried to surrender. According to witnesses, Sheriffs approached Avitia as he was bloody and crawling on the sidewalk and shot him several more times at close range. Avitia’s body reportedly remained on the sidewalk for more than six hours.
A graphic Instagram video filmed from across the street corroborates parts of what witnesses described.