Off-duty officer’s fight with teens sets off protests

ANAHEIM, Calif. — An off-duty California officer who didn’t want teens walking across his lawn fired his gun during a struggle with a 13-year-old boy and other youths, igniting unruly protests after video of the fight surfaced and two boys were arrested.

No one was hurt during the struggle, but hundreds of people marched through suburban Anaheim streets late Wednesday, some blocking traffic and carrying signs that said “no shooting zone.” Police arrested two dozen people, including children, after the crowd ignored orders to disperse.

The fight Tuesday between the off-duty Los Angeles police officer and the group of kids stemmed from ongoing issues with teens walking across the man’s property in Anaheim, a police statement said.

The 13-year-old believed the officer, who was not named, had cursed at a teenage girl who had walked across his lawn in the area of single-family homes, many with tidy flower beds and well-pruned trees about three kilometres west of Disneyland, the Orange County Register reported.

“The little kid said, ‘I’m going to sue you,’ and then the guy thought he said, ‘I’m going to shoot you.’ That’s when he started grabbing the little kid,” Gregory Perez, 16, part of a larger group of young people walking in the area, told the newspaper.

A video posted on YouTube showed the officer struggling with the boy, who repeatedly denied he threatened to open fire. At one point, the teen said, “Let me go . ... I’m only 13.”

Another youth rushed the officer, who stumbled back through a low hedge, still holding the 13-year-old.

A teen then took a swing at the officer. Other kids approached, and the man — still gripping the 13-year-old with one hand — pulled a gun from his waistband, crouched and fired a shot.