Police: Man fatally shot by deputies held woman for 6 days
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The half-brother of a black man recently found hanged in a Southern California park was fatally shot by police after opening fire on deputies about to arrest him on charges he beat his girlfriend and held her captive for nearly a week, according to authorities and court documents.
The shootout occurred Wednesday afternoon as Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop a vehicle driven by a woman police described as another former girlfriend of Terron J. Boone. A 7-year-old girl was a passenger along with Boone. Deputies shouted “hands up!” and Boone opened the passenger door and began firing from a semiautomatic handgun, authorities said. Boone fired at least six rounds, hitting the deputies’ vehicles, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Westphal of the homicide bureau. Four deputies returned fire, fatally striking Boone.
The girl and deputies were not injured. The driver was struck by gunfire and treated and released from a hospital.
Boone, 31, was the half-brother of Robert Fuller, 24, who was found hanging from a tree last week in Palmdale. Jamon Hicks, an attorney for the Fuller family, confirmed Boone’s relationship to Fuller but declined to comment further Thursday.
The sheriff’s department has not yet identified the shooting victim as Boone.
Fuller was found in a park near Palmdale City Hall early in the morning of June 10. A preliminary autopsy was conducted the next day and the initial finding of suicide immediately prompted skepticism among the black community in an area of Los Angeles County with a racist history.
The coroner’s office said Fuller’s death appeared to be a suicide and homicide detectives said there was no evidence to the contrary at the scene. That outraged family members who said authorities were too quick with that finding and failed to consider the possibility of foul play. They are seeking an independent autopsy.
More than 1,000 people turned out for a protest and memorial Saturday around the tree where Fuller’s body was found. His family and friends described him as a peacemaker who was street-smart, loved music and video games, and mostly stayed to himself. Days before he died, he attended a Black Lives Matter protest, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The FBI and state attorney general’s office on Monday announced they are monitoring the LA Sheriff Department’s investigation of the death.
Fuller was the second black man to be found hanged in a public place in Southern California in recent weeks. Malcolm Harsch, a 38-year-old homeless man, was found on May 31 in Victorville, a desert city in San Bernardino County east of Palmdale.