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Anger erupts at emergency meeting over teen killed by deputies
Sheriff’s Captain Chris Bergner (left), who is overseeing the investigation into the killing of 16-year-old Anthony Weber by a deputy, is confronted Wednesday night by the boy’s older brother John Weber during an emergency town hall sponsored by the Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission.
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Frank Stoltze/KPCC
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Anger boiled over at a town hall meeting held Wednesday night to discuss the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy by deputies in South Los Angeles.
The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has said Anthony Weber was armed, but no weapon was discovered at the scene of the shooting on Sunday night.
The Sheriff's Civilian Oversight Commission sponsored the meeting — its first in response to a shooting — at a small church in South L.A., where more than 100 people gathered.
Sheriff's Capt. Chris Bergner, who is overseeing the investigation, said he believes someone may have grabbed the gun after Weber was shot.
Town hall participant Oleina Brown said she didn't believe that theory.
"This is horrific. This is sad. That was a baby. And I don't even know him personally, but I know he was a black baby boy that was gunned down. And we need change," Brown said.
John Weber, the teen's brother, asked if his family was due anything from the Sheriff's Department. When Bergner said no, Weber jumped on stage to confront the captain, and the meeting erupted in chaos, coming to an abrupt end.
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"I couldn't sit up there on that dais as a commissioner when that is what the family was told – they are due nothing. They are due a lot," Commissioner Patti Giggans told KPCC later. "They are due respect. They are due answers to, I would say, many more questions than this tight-lipped response from the Sheriff's Department. We have to treat each other like human beings."
The two deputies involved in the shooting were not at the meeting and remain on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues.
Bergner was unavailable for comment after the meeting.
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