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14-Year-Old Boy Shot And Killed By LAPD Officers In Boyle Heights
The latest person to be shot and killed by an LAPD officer was a 14-year-old boy in Boyle Heights.
L.A. County Coroner spokesman Ed Winter has identified the victim of a police shooting in Boyle Heights on Tuesday as 14-year-old Jesse Romero, the L.A. Times reports.
The shooting took place yesterday at about 6 p.m. LAPD Gang Enforcement Detail officers chased Romero on foot after encountering him near Chicago Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue. LAPD Detective Megan Aguilar confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that officers "did indeed see a handgun in the hands of the suspect when they were chasing him." The chase ended in a fatal shooting about 10 minutes after it began. Romero was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. No officers were harmed in the incident.
While a handgun was recovered, it is unclear if the boy fired at officers. The officers were wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting, though Aguilar said it is not clear at this time if the cameras were activated, according to the L.A. Times. Police have made contact with several witnesses and will check nearby businesses to see if any surveillance cameras caught the incident.
As the Times points out, this would be the twelfth fatal shooting out of 15 total shootings by on-duty LAPD officers so far this year.
Another man was shot and wounded by police following a traffic stop near Avenue 55 and Nordyke Street in Eagle Rock on Tuesday at about 2 a.m. He is currently at a local hospital. A handgun was recovered at the scene, though it is not clear yet if the man ever threatened officers with the weapon.
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