Four days after an off-duty Los Angeles police officer pulled out a gun and killed a non-verbal mentally disabled man and wounded his parents inside a Southern California Costco, police have yet to release the cop’s name or any video evidence that would support his story.
Instead, we are expected to just take their word on what took place Friday night inside the Costco in Riverside County.
The attorney for the LAPD cop paints the usual dramatic scenario of the cop coming under attack where he was left unconscious, only to wake up and begin “fighting for his life” where he not only had to shoot and kill the unarmed mentally disabled man but had to shoot his parents as well. Witnesses say he shot at least six times.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
Attorney David Winslow, who is representing the officer, said the man was getting a food sample for his 1-year-old son inside the store in Corona on Friday night when he was attacked and knocked unconscious. When he awoke, the officer was “fighting for his life,” the attorney said.
Authorities said the assault, which was captured on Costco security cameras, was unprovoked and led the officer to fire his 9 mm pistol, killing Kenneth French, 32, and wounding French’s parents.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore briefly addressed the shooting in front of the Police Commission on Tuesday, telling the panel, “There’s many more questions than answers at this point.”
“I’ll wait for the full investigation before commenting on the officer’s decision to use deadly force,” Moore said. “The use of deadly force, whether on- or off-duty, is a matter that is the most-scrutinized decision that we have in this organization, and in this instance, it will be as well.”
Not a single witness interviewed by local media reported anything remotely close to what the lawyer describes. They just describe an argument involving a man with a mohawk haircut before shots were fired.
It should also be noted that police tend to be very secretive about these investigations when they know the cop is in the wrong. If the video showed what they are telling us happened, then generally cops would be quicker to release it.
It should also be noted that the victim, Kenneth French, 32, had no history of arrests or violence, according to public records and friends and relatives.
And to shoot his parents suggests they were also attacking him which family and friends find very hard to believe.
It is not even clear at this time if Russel and Paola French are even able to speak or if they have given a statement because the truth should lie with them. All we are told is that they are in critical condition.
Meanwhile, cops from several agencies are doing their job in sticking to the cop’s narrative
“What type of person punches a parent and knocks them out carrying a baby?” said Ed Obayashi, a Plumas County sheriff’s deputy interviewed by the L.A. Times because he is also a use-of-force advisor to the California Assn. of Police Training Officers.
And on that note, we should also ask what kind of person takes the cop at his word without viewing the video?
