Last month, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) released video footage that shows a veteran LAPD officer chasing a young man through a Pacoima housing project before fatally shooting him in the back as he ran away.
At around 8:50 PM on June 11, LAPD Officer Daniel Ramirez, along with two additional officers assigned to the Foothill Division's Gang Enforcement Unit, jumped out of a squad car and immediately began chasing 20-year-old Alexander Aguilar-Larios on foot through San Fernando Gardens, a city-managed housing project, after Aguilar-Larios fled from a BMW that he was a passenger of.
The officers pulled the driver of the BMW over for “traveling at a high rate of speed,” according to an LAPD spokesperson. After the officers began running after Aguilar-Larios, the driver fled.
“Stop or I’m going to shoot you,” Ramirez shouted as he trailed Aguilar-Larios with his pistol drawn through the quiet, WWII-era, garden-style apartment complex at night.
Six seconds later, Ramirez shot at Aguilar-Larios four times in quick succession, after the 20-year-old tripped on a patio, fell to the ground, then rose to his feet again, and attempted to continue running away. He was shot with his back turned to Ramirez.