LAPD chief overrules finding that cleared officer in fatal shooting of man asleep with gun

Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times on Oct 9, 2024

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LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles police officer who fatally shot a man found asleep with a gun in his waistband was initially cleared of wrongdoing by oversight officials — but now could face punishment after the department's chief found the killing was not justified.

Rejecting a recommendation from earlier this year by a panel that reviews serious uses of force, interim Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi ruled in August that an LAPD officer was wrong when he shot 44-year-old Oscar Lopez last October.

After a lengthy internal investigation, Choi determined that officer Sean Steelmon was not justified in using deadly force during a late-night encounter with Lopez in a parking lot in the San Fernando Valley.

Around 1 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2023, Steelmon and four other Topanga Division officers were called to a report of a man holding a handgun while sitting in a gray pickup truck in the parking lot in the 21000 block of Sherman Way.

Because they couldn't see through the truck's tinted windows, the officers approached with caution and found Lopez and his brother lying in the front seats, apparently passed out drunk, according to Choi's report on the incident.

After opening the door, officers saw a handgun protruding from Lopez's waistband.

Steelmon, who was armed with a shotgun, told department investigators that after waking the men up he repeatedly ordered Lopez not to reach for his waistband. Before Steelmon opened fire, he said, Lopez reached toward the gun and appeared to be "acquiring the grip," the report says.

Although acknowledging that Lopez was armed, "the feasibility of using de-escalation tactics or other alternatives should have been considered prior to using force," the chief wrote in a report to the Police Commission.

The commission, which was down one commissioner, signed off on the chief's decision with a 4-0 vote last month.

Steelmon's discipline will be decided by Choi, who is expected to remain in the interim role for several more weeks before incoming Chief Jim McDonnell is confirmed by the City Council.

Choi faulted Steelmon and several other officers for making serious tactical mistakes leading up to the deadly encounter in Canoga Park.

"The occupants were intoxicated to a level that they could barely move or respond," Choi wrote, noting the officers could have used other "tools such as a shield, the PA system, emergency lights and siren, as well as requesting assistance from Air Support Division and Metropolitan Division personnel.

All serious uses of force by officers, including shootings, are reviewed by an internal panel made up of a rotating cast of high-ranking LAPD officials, and either one or two "peer" officers, which decides whether officers acted within department policy. Their recommendations are sent to the chief of police, and eventually the Police Commission.

In this case, the review panel concluded that Steelmon was justified, because he and another officer both believed that Lopez was reaching for his gun.

But Choi disagreed, contending that Lopez's actions didn't rise to the level where a reasonable officer would have used deadly force. Instead, he said, the officers should have disengaged and waited for backup.

The commission agreed with him unanimously.

Lopez's family filed a wrongful death government claim in March, alleging that he and his brother didn't pose a threat to anyone. Neither man understood English and they were confused to wake up to men screaming at them in English and Spanish, the claim said.

The claim alleges that an officer armed with a shotgun, presumably Steelmon, reportedly yelled at Lopez — who "appeared dazed and disoriented and stared straight ahead through the front windshield" — in English to put his hands in the air, and Lopez complied. As Steelmon was requesting a Spanish-speaking officer, Lopez flinched with his hands and the officer opened fire, the claim said.

Jose Lopez witnessed his brother's death, causing him "significant emotional distress," the claim said.

Steelmon previously fired his weapon on duty, when he shot and wounded a 51-year-old woman who was being kicked out of a motel in the 20100 block of Vanowen Street in 2020. Police were called when the woman, who was not a guest at the motel, began acting erratically and locked herself into a motel room. She briefly opened the door while holding a gun, prompting Steelmon to open fire, police said.