Armed suspect killed after pursuit, police in LA report

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police shot and killed an armed suspect Saturday in South Los Angeles following the pursuit of what was believed to be a stolen vehicle, authorities said.

The events leading up to the shooting began about 1:40 p.m., when officers spotted a car with paper plates and tried to stop it, thinking the vehicle may have been stolen, Sgt. Barry Montgomery told reporters at 108th Street and Western Avenue.

When the driver of the vehicle failed to stop, officers began a pursuit, Montgomery said.

A passenger got out of the car near Western and 106th Street, and officers ran after him, Montgomery said. They chased him toward the back of a house on 107th Street, Montgomery said, where police shot him.

Trenell Snell, 17, said she was outside with friends when she saw her older brother, CJ, running from police. Snell started running, too, she said. Then, she heard gunfire — “boom, boom, boom, boom.”

She hit the ground. When she got up, she said, her brother was on the ground, handcuffed.

“At the end of the day, the cops came and shot my brother,” she said. “Killed my brother.”

Relatives identified him as Carnell Snell Jr. and said the 18-year-old was killed on the street where he lived.

Police have not said what exactly happened in the moments before the shooting.