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The neighbor of a man who was shot to death by police in North Hollywood in front of his home this morning told reporters that he had reported himself to the police.
The neighbor Miriam Barajas described a dramatic scene to ABC 7 that sounds as if the man were trying to commit "suicide by cop."
Barajas said Julio Sandoval, her neighbor of 12 years and the godfather of her children, had been depressed about his finances. He had lost his job and then failed at an attempt to start a new business. This morning he had been drinking, and he told her that he had reported himself to the police just before 5 a.m. Barajas said he was carrying a BB gun.
Police this morning said they responded to a report of someone shooting a rifle in the air — Barajas said that this is the report that came directly by Sandoval. When police arrived at the scene, they found that Sandoval met the description in the report. When officers asked Sandoval to show his hands, he pointed his rifle at them. The police fired several founds into his upper torso, and he was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital.
Sandoval's 20-year-old son tried to intervene, Barajas said. The man's son shouted at police that Sandoval was armed with a BB gun and didn't pose a threat. She said this to ABC 7:
The son was screaming. After they finished shooting him, one of the police said, "It's a BB gun." They realized it after the shooting. So for us, it's painful because we don't expect them to just come and kill someone without trying to help the person or trying to talk to him and see what's the problem.
Police told ABC 7 that the two officers involved in the shooting have been with the force for a little less than five years. The captain at the station described them as outstanding officers.
Sandoval's wife and two children were home at the time of the shooting.
