Family of security guard, 18, fatally shot six times by police while he was on duty after cops say he 'produced a gun and ran away' call for independent investigation amid claims of a 'cover-up' (18 Pics)
The family of an 18-year-old security guard who was fatally shot six times by police in California after he ran away from officers ‘because he was scared’ called Saturday for an independent investigation into his death.
The sister of Andrew Guardado has urged officials to further examine the circumstances leading up to her sibling’s death in Gardena on Thursday night.
‘Even if this is the last day I breathe, I'm not holding this back because I feel it in my soul that my brother was murdered, and this was covered up,’ Jennifer Guardado, 22, told NBC LA.
US Representatives Nanette Diaz Barragán and Maxine Waters have joined the Guardado family in calling for an independent investigation.
‘Another day and another Black or Brown kid has been shot in the back by police,’ the Los Angeles-based democrats said in a joint statement. ‘These killings must stop. We demand it. The American people demand it.’
Andres Guardado, 18, was standing outside the autobody shop where he worked in Gardena, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles. His boss told reporters Guardado had a clean record, and that the approaching sheriffs pulled their own guns on the teenager, which scared him into fleeing the scene
Guardado's sister, Jennifer Guardado (abovE) has urged officials to further examine the circumstances leading up to her sibling’s death in Gardena on Thursday night
Relatives of Guardado, embrace as they tour the site of the shooting inside an auto shop in Gardena, California
Andres Guardado, 18, was standing outside the autobody shop where he worked in Gardena, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, guarding against graffiti taggers on Thursday evening.
The Hispanic teenager allegedly spotted officers patrolling the area just before 6pm, and investigators say they saw him flash a handgun before taking off, police said.
However his boss told reporters Guardado had a clean record, and that the approaching sheriffs pulled their own guns on the teenager, which scared him into fleeing the scene.
Andres Guardado, 18 (pictured), from Los Angeles, California, was shot and killed at around 6pm on Thursday evening outside the autobody shop where he was employed
Officers began chasing him on foot southbound before a deputy fired a gun 'at least several times', striking Guardado's upper torso and killing him.
County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has also since added his voice to the chorus calling for an independent investigation, requesting that the Office of the Inspector General step in to divulge specifically what happened.
‘I firmly believe that an immediate and independent investigation must be conducted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) into this matter, and I urge the Sheriff’s Department to immediately and fully cooperate with this OIG independent investigation,’ Ridley-Thomas said in a written statement.
Head of the LA County Sheriff Department’s homicide division, Capt. Kent Wegener, says that deputies reported seeing Guardado – who allegedly wasn’t wearing a uniform - talking to someone in a car outside of the auto-shop.
Authorities say Guardado ‘looked to the deputies’ and ‘produced a gun’ before running away, Wegener said during a news conference Saturday. He added that Guardado was too young to work as a state-licensed security guard at the business.
The shooting took place in an alleyway in the back of the building. Guardado was shot in the torso, Wegener said, adding that the medical examiner will perform an autopsy.
Guardado’s family, meanwhile, insist the teen was actually shot in the back as he ran.
Investigators said they recovered a modified .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol at the scene. It had no markings or serial number and appeared to have been pieced together from different parts.
The gun had not been fired, the police captain said. Guardado's family have insisted that they do not believe the teenager was armed.
Jennifer Guardado said Friday that her brother did not carry weapons. She says she wants to meet the deputy who shot Guardado and see video footage of what happened.
‘They're not going to kill an innocent person and get away with it,’ she said. ‘There will be justice in this world.’
Grief-stricken relatives gathered at the scene of Guardado's death on Friday afternoon, erecting a memorial for the late teenager
A line of police officers was stationed outside the cordoned off road at the 400 block of Redondo Beach Boulevard
The shooting took place in an alleyway in the back of the building (above). Guardado was shot in the torso, Wegener said, adding that the medical examiner will perform an autopsy. Guardado’s family, meanwhile, say he was shot in the back as he ran
Protest against police violence at the scene where Andres Guardado was shot and killed by the police on Friday, June 19
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva promised to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in the ongoing investigation. Investigators have taken footage from six or seven exterior cameras from the scene of Thursday's shooting for examination.
‘Shootings are thoroughly investigated,’ he said Saturday. ‘It's a deliberative process that can sometimes be maddeningly slow.’
Villanueva said the shooting underscores why the department needs to get body cameras for all of its uniformed deputies as soon as possible. The department is currently soliciting bids for a company to provide the cameras.
Guardado’s death comes at a time of increasingly fraught relations between law enforcement agencies and people of color, particularly African Americans and Latinos.
On Saturday, Villanueva acknowledged the friction between his department and residents.
The sheriff, who was previously been criticized for reinstating deputies who had been fired for lying or using unreasonable force, however warned that misinformation about Guardado’s death was spreading.
‘It doesn’t serve the family well, it doesn’t serve the community well, and it just drives this whole conspiracy cycle,’ he said. ‘Those people just need to slow down, stop, wait until the investigation runs its course.’
Villanueva discredited rumors that the 18-year-old was executed by Sheriff’s deputies as ‘nonsense’, and asked for patience while an investigation continues.
‘We can’t paint with a broad brush an entire profession,’ he said, referring to growing anti-police sentiment since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
‘There’s going to be mistakes made, there’s going to be bad things that happen, criminal conduct in every single profession, every single walk of life, and we have to hold people accountable for when they cross the line,’ Villanueva said.
Guardado attended Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, according to the Los Angeles Community College District, which called his death a tragedy
Guardado's death comes as police across America face mounting anger over fatal shootings, police brutality and deaths in custody following the killing of George Floyd last month - which sparked widespread Black Lives Matter protests across the globe
Guardado graduated from high school about a year ago and he recently purchased a car. He didn't drink or smoke, and supported his parents, family members said
Noe Abarca said Guardado was his nephew and worked two part-time security jobs, lived with his parents in Koreatown and had a brother and sister.
‘This kid here, he was such a sweetheart,’ she said. ‘I will not stand by and let this go on.’
Abarca said his nephew was studying to be a mechanic and had recently told family members that he was considering joining the Army.
Guardado graduated from high school about a year ago, Abarca said, and he recently purchased a car. He didn't drink or smoke, and supported his parents, he said.
‘He was a great kid. He was always making jokes, smiling,’ Abarca said. ‘How many kids do we have like him? Not many.’
Guardado attended Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, according to the Los Angeles Community College District, which called his death a tragedy.
On Wednesday, the half-brother of a Black man recently found hanged in a Southern California park was fatally shot when he opened fire on Los Angeles County major crimes bureau deputies in the Mojave Desert community of Rosamond, authorities said.
The deputies were trying to arrest Terron J. Boone, 31, on charges that he allegedly beat his girlfriend and held her captive for nearly a week.
Boone was the half-brother of Robert Fuller, 24, who was found hanging from a tree last week in Palmdale. Initial findings that it was likely a suicide led to protests and calls for an independent investigation.
Family of security guard, 18, fatally shot six times by police while he was on duty after cops say he 'produced a gun and ran away' call for independent investigation amid claims of a 'cover-up' (18 Pics)
![Family of security guard, 18, fatally shot six times by police while he was on duty after cops say he 'produced a gun and ran away' call for independent investigation amid claims of a 'cover-up' (18 Pics)]()
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June 22, 2020
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