That means the city may be liable for much of the award.Ī statement from the city attorney's office said the city will review all of its options, including an appeal. The jurors in the lawsuit trial concluded that Salvador Sanchez, a seven-year LAPD veteran, was acting within the scope of his employment even though he was off duty. "The family is grateful for the jury's verdict and hoping that this can bring them some sense of justice and begin the healing process," Dale Galipo, an attorney for the family, said in a statement to Eyewitness News. On JKenneth French, a young man with disabilities, was shot and killed by an off-duty LAPD officer while shopping with his family at a Costco in Corona, California. The panel ruled in a lawsuit filed against the city of Los Angeles and the former officer in the June 14, 2019, killing of 32-year-old Kenneth French. Witnesses reported seeing an argument between two people near a freezer section when at least six shots rang out.A federal jury in Riverside awarded $17 million in damages to the family of a mentally disabled man who was fatally shot by an off-duty LAPD officer inside a Costco in Corona in 2019.ĬORONA, Calif (KABC) - A federal jury in Riverside Wednesday awarded $17 million in damages to the family of a mentally disabled man who was fatally shot by an off-duty LAPD officer inside a Costco in Corona more than two years ago. The shooting prompted a stampede of frightened shoppers, some who fled the store as others sought cover inside. "People start filling in the timelines for you" in the meantime, he said. While it's not unusual for police to delay releasing information, such as an officer's name, after a shooting for safety reasons, Giacalone said it's important to get details out as quickly as possible. Giacalone said video footage from Costco's cameras and shoppers' cellphones will be critical to the investigations. Police have not said if French had any weapons or if the officer identified himself as police before firing. "If the guy pulled out a pocketknife and approaches him, game over," Giacalone said. Joseph Giacalone, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired New York City police sergeant, said it's justifiable to use deadly force even in a crowded store if the attacker has a weapon. Off-duty officers can carry concealed weapons as long as they are authorized for on-duty use, according to the LAPD manual. The officer was treated and released at a hospital, and his child was not injured. Los Angeles Police Commission President Steve Soboroff said it is Chief Michel Moore's decision whether to put the officer on leave, but it wasn't clear if that happened. Corona police and prosecutors did not respond to requests for comment Sunday. The LAPD said that it had no further information. Los Angeles police have started an internal investigation, while Corona police and the Riverside County district attorney's office investigate the shooting separately. Truth will come out! I'm sure this was a misunderstanding that got escalated for no reason!" "This is a family that was unarmed and was just grocery shopping. "I'm posting this picture because the stories on social media have made them out to be the suspects, and the off duty cop the victim," Shureih wrote Sunday. The family is seeking an attorney, said Shureih, who posted a photo of French and his parents on Facebook. He said French's parents, Russell and Paola French, were the others shot and that they were in intensive care Sunday. "He's not the kind to trade words, so I don't believe that a verbal confrontation happened," Shureih said. He declined to give specifics about his mental condition.įrench was "non-violent, non-aggressive, non-verbal," Shureih said, and "he has to be pretty much monitored." Rick Shureih, French's cousin, told the Press-Enterprise in Riverside that French was a "gentle giant" who had mental disabilities. They have not released the names of the officers or those wounded. The officer was the only one who fired shots, striking French and two of his family members, police said.Īuthorities did not respond to requests for more information about what led to the attack and whether anyone but the officer had a weapon. The officer opened fire after Kenneth French, 32, of Riverside, attacked him without provocation as the officer held his young child Friday night, according to police in Corona, about 40 miles east of LA. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Authorities are poring through video to figure out how a confrontation between an off-duty Los Angeles police officer and a man described by family as mentally disabled ended in a shooting in a Costco store that killed the man and critically wounded his parents.
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