Jury deadlocked in trial of ex-LAPD officer accused of shooting 3 people in Corona Costco

The jury presiding over the case of an ex-officer accused of shooting three people inside a Corona Costco is deadlocked over their potential decision. 

The former cop from the Los Angeles Police Department, Salvador Alejandro Sanchez, was charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a semiautomatic handgun for allegedly shooting 32-year-old Kenneth French, an adult with developmental disabilities, and his parents, Russell and Paola.

It happened on June 14, 2019 when the French family and Sanchez where in line at the sample station inside the Corona Costco. Kenneth, who his family's attorney has described as schizophrenic and nonverbal, was killed. His parents were critically wounded but survived. 

Grainy surveillance video appeared to show a physical altercation between French and Sanchez prior to the shooting. Sanchez, who had been holding his 18-month-old son, fired off 10 rounds from a handgun. In March, Corona police released bodycam footage of their officers responding to the scene. In the footage, Sanchez tells officers that he opened fire after believing that he himself had been shot.  

In 2019, a Riverside County grand jury declined to indict the shooter, prompting the California Department of Justice to file charges. Sanchez was fired from the LAPD in 2020 after the LA Police Commission classified the shooting as an unjustifiable use of force. 

In 2021, an LA jury awarded the French family $17 million for their lawsuit against the city and Sanchez that alleged negligence and civil rights violations.