LA Sheriff’s Department examines cameras in fatal shooting probe

GARDENA, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday that it is examining footage from security cameras that might have recorded the fatal shooting of a young man after deputies spotted him with a gun and he ran.

Capt. Kent Wegener, the head of the department’s Homicide Bureau, said in a news conference that investigators have taken six or seven exterior cameras from the scene of Thursday’s shooting in which 18-year-old Andres Guardado was killed by a deputy.

The killing in an alley among businesses in the Gardena area was the second fatal shooting by Los Angeles County deputies this week.

Thursday’s shooting took place after deputies spotted Guardado with a gun in front of a business in the 400 block of Redondo Beach Boulevard near Gardena.

Wegener said Guardado ran from the deputies after he saw them. The deputies saw that Guardado had a gun, he said.

The shooting took place in the back of the building, Wegener said. Guardado was shot in the torso, he said, adding that the medical examiner will perform an autopsy.

Guardado’s gun appeared to have been pieced together from different parts, and it did not have a serial number, Wegener said.

Investigators do not believe Guardado fired his gun, he said.

Guardado was too young to work as a state-licensed security guard at the business, Wegener said.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the shooting underscores why the department needs to get body cameras for all of its uniformed deputies as soon as possible. The department is currently soliciting bids for a company to provide the cameras.

On June 7, deputies responded to the same address on a report that a man had been shot in the driveway, Wegener said. The man survived the shooting, and deputies found narcotics and a shotgun in the building.

On Friday, more than 25 people gathered by a small memorial of flowers, candles and posters at the scene where 18-yearold Andres Guardado was shot.