Los Angeles police shot and killed a homeless man after they’d Tased him for not coming out of his tent. The LAPD were originally responding to a reported robbery in the Skid Row district of downtown Los Angeles.
Police have not identified the real name of the dead man, but he’s been identified by the community as going by the name “Africa.” Africa was declared dead at a hospital shortly after the shooting. No officers were injured during the altercation.
A witness, Dennis Horne, told the Los Angeles Times that “Africa had been fighting with someone else in his tent when police arrived.”
When Africa refused to comply with a police order to come out of the tent, officers used the Taser on him and dragged him out, Horne said. The officers tackled Africa to the ground, where he continued to fight, which led to the fatal shooting, according to Horne.
A video was uploaded to Facebook by Anthony Blackburn. You can here an officer shout “he’s got my gun!” before five gunshots are fired. Prior to the shooting, a woman is tackled after she picks up a baton that one of the officers drops.
As downtown Los Angeles continues to re-develop with more shops and apartments, new laws have emerged in Skid Row. The homeless are allowed to sleep on the streets from 9 p.m to 6 a.m., but they are supposed to remove their tents after 6 a.m. Witnesses believe that was the reason why Africa was forcibly removed.
A nearby resident, Ina Murphy, also told The LA Times that Africa told her he’d recently been released from a mental facility that he’d resided in for 10 years. Murphy said that she’d first noticed Africa in the area, about four or five months ago.
“This man got shot over a tent,” a witness said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V46CzELocYY
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