Video likely key in Costco shooting
Relatives of man killed by officer dispute story
LOS ANGELES — Video is likely to be key in determining how a confrontation between an off-duty Los Angeles police officer and a man described by family as mentally disabled ended in a shooting in a Costco warehouse store that killed the man and critically wounded his parents.
The unidentified officer told investigators he opened fire after Kenneth French, 32, of Riverside, attacked him without provocation as the officer held his young child Friday night, according to police in the city of Corona, east of Los Angeles. Neither the officer nor the child was hurt.
Rick Shureih, French’s cousin, told the Press-enterprise in Riverside that French was gentle and didn’t speak because of a mental condition that started in adulthood. He did not provide details on the condition, but he said French had “to be pretty much monitored” and his cousin’s parents, Russell and Paola French, accompanied him everywhere.
In a Facebook posting Monday, Shureih said the family has gotten “witness accounts that do not match up to the original story.” He declined to provide details, saying the information is confidential. He also said the family is pro-police but wants justice and called on authorities to arrest the officer.
Once Corona police finish their investigation, prosecutors will review and consider whether to bring criminal charges.
The Los Angeles Police Department is doing an administrative investigation of its officer. He been assigned administrative duties , LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman said Monday.
Video from Costco’s security cameras and shoppers’ cellphones will be critical to the investigations, said Samuel Walker, a retired criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Walker said investigators will be primarily looking at whether there was “an immediate threat” to the officer’s life that prompted him to pull out his gun or whether he could have used less-lethal means.
“I find the crowded setting extremely alarming. There’s such a high risk to other people,” Walker said. “There are many ways officers are trained to de-escalate a situation before reaching for a weapon.”