An 18-year-old man was fatally shot in the Westmont neighborhood of Los Angeles by police after he and another passenger ditched a stolen car, the New York Daily News reports.
The man, Carnell Snell, took off running from police officers after a car chase ended in him abandoning the vehicle. Officers reportedly tried to pull the vehicle over after they noticed it had fake tags. Snell's mother, Monique Morgan, alleges her son was shot in the back five times; the LAPD has not corroborated the claim.
While the Daily News reports that a gun was recovered at the scene, it is unclear whether it belonged to Snell, and if so, whether he threatened the officers.
“At the end of the day, the cops came and shot my brother,” Snell's 17-year-old sister Trenell, who was home at the time, said. “Killed my brother.” She recounted her version of the story for the Los Angeles Times, telling a reporter she ducked from the gunfire for fear of being shot.
Snell's death sparked a wave of protests against police brutality Saturday in Los Angeles. The Times reported that dozens of people showed up at Snell's neighborhood after reports of the shooting spread among residents.
“A police officer should not be the judge, the jury and the executioner,” 36-year-old Los Angeles resident Tia Gonzalez told the Times.
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