Family of man holding cell phone, shot and killed by LAPD officers speaks out
A group of about 20 people gathered outside of the Southeast Los Angeles Police Department Station Friday, protesting the police shooting death of a 35-year-old man during a traffic stop last week.
Holding signs that read "A cellphone is not a gun" and "Justice for Mario Sanchez," the group took to megaphone chants, pleas, and demands, aimed at police in the building.
On March 14, around 10:20 p.m., officers pulled over a car seen "driving erratically," on the streets of South Los Angeles. Police said they ordered Mario Sanchez to lower his windows and place his hands outside of the car.
"Sanchez yelled profanity at the officers and, moments later, exited his driver's door. Sanchez faced the officers, removed a dark object from his waistband area, and quickly pointed it at them, resulting in an Officer-Involved Shooting," said a press release from LAPD.
He was struck by gunfire and taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.
"The object Sanchez pointed at the officers at the time of the OIS was later determined to be a cellphone," police said.
During Friday's rally, his sister, Evelyn Sanchez, said that her brother had texted her that night after leaving his parents' house, saying he got pulled over by the LAPD. "He got killed within minutes from that," she said.
The state's Department of Justice is investigating the shooting according to AB 1506, which calls for an independent review of any officer-involved shooting that results in the death of an unarmed civilian.
Sanchez was a forklift driver and a father of two, his sister said.
"I want them to be held accountable, I want them to go to jail just like any other person would, or not be a police (officer) anymore, we don't need people to kill people for no reason," Evelyn said.
