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LOS ANGELES - A toddler was shot and killed when her father used her as a shield in a gunbattle with police following an hours-long standoff, officials said. The man also died and an officer was wounded.
The man killed Sunday night after an hours-long standoff was identified as Jose Raul Lemos, and the girl, about 17 months old, was his daughter, police said. The officer, who was not immediately identified, was shot in the shoulder and was expected to recover.
"He was using the baby as a shield," Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell said.
"We showed a tremendous amount of restraint, but unfortunately the suspect's actions dictated this," he said. "It's a true tragedy."
The child's mother, Lorena Lopez, said she pleaded with officers to hold their fire.
"He had problems with depression, his business was not doing well," Lopez told KNBC-TV. "I told them that he needed help, he needs a psychologist, but please don't shoot. They didn't understand, and the police fired, like, 300 shots."
It was unclear who fired the shot that hit the girl, but officers were struggling with the thought that they killed a baby, McDonnell said.
"The officers are taking it very hard," he said. "Anytime you have a baby killed, it takes its toll."
The standoff began at around 3:50 p.m. when officers responded to an area in South Los Angeles west of Watts after residents reported an armed man standing near an intersection with a toddler and behaving erratically and aggressively.
There were three exchanges of gunfire between police and Lemos, who was about 35, McDonnell told reporters. In the final exchange, at around 6:20 p.m., Lemos held the girl as he shot.
"We did everything we could to hold our fire," McDonnell said.
At one point, Lemos retreated into an apartment building, where police said he held the girl hostage.
Police called in a SWAT team and tried to speak with the man; when they at one point attempted to help a neighbor escape the area, he fired at them and they fired back, McDonnell said.
Under police regulations, officers may only fire "when it reasonably appears necessary" to protect themselves or others from death or serious injury.
The man had a 9 mm handgun and a shotgun and was intoxicated on drugs and alcohol, police said.
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I.D. badges are long overdue. Security in this office park is a joke. Last year, I came to work with my spud gun in a duffel bag. I sat at my desk all day, with a rifle that shoots potatoes at 60 pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged? - Dwight K. Schrute
so now they have this family, of this poor child, get on the television and talk about filing suit and how mad they are... I don't even know what to think about this... I am not fond of cops blazing away with a baby present but the father was just randomly shooting his gun here and there using his daughter as a shield... In an interview the mother, through an interpreter, she said that the family is outraged and the police were told that he was going through a depression and that he could not control himself... The guys mother said that he was unstable and she wants reperations for his and the grandbabies death...
My question is since all of these family members knew he was unstable, shouldn't they be charged with wreckless endangerment for allowing this "oh so obviously disturbed man" to be with his daughter at all, let alone with a gun?
My question is since all of these family members knew he was unstable, shouldn't they be charged with wreckless endangerment for allowing this "oh so obviously disturbed man" to be with his daughter at all, let alone with a gun?
Oh, forgot, let him take the baby, with the gun while on drugs and alcohol...
On my drive to work this morning, this was pretty much the topic of discussion on the radio...
The family claims that he was depressed due to a failing business...
Allegedly, he was actually served with restraining orders on Saturday that ordered him away from his 17 year old step-daughter and the toddler. Again, allegedly, he was indeed the father of the toddler but the mother of the toddler was not his ex-wife but rather his 17 year old daughter. The restraining order was issued due to child molestation of the 17 year old daughter...
The family is set to hold a press conference later this morning with their attorney announcing the scope of the law suit that they are filing against the city...
This is a tragic story for sure. I understand the cops have an impossible decision here but man you just have to hold fire even with shots fired from the madman if at all possible when he's using an infant shield. Could they have pulled back and tried to bide some time until a sharpshooter could get in place?
This is a tragic story for sure. I understand the cops have an impossible decision here but man you just have to hold fire even with shots fired from the madman if at all possible when he's using an infant shield. Could they have pulled back and tried to bide some time until a sharpshooter could get in place?
This article adds more information to the story - apparently this guy fired over 40 shots at the police.
"He had problems with depression, his business was not doing well," Lopez told a local television station. "I told them that he needed help, he needs a psychologist, but please don't shoot. They didn't understand, and the police fired, like, 300 shots."
so now they have this family, of this poor child, get on the television and talk about filing suit and how mad they are... I don't even know what to think about this... I am not fond of cops blazing away with a baby present but the father was just randomly shooting his gun here and there using his daughter as a shield... In an interview the mother, through an interpreter, she said that the family is outraged and the police were told that he was going through a depression and that he could not control himself... The guys mother said that he was unstable and she wants reperations for his and the grandbabies death...
My question is since all of these family members knew he was unstable, shouldn't they be charged with wreckless endangerment for allowing this "oh so obviously disturbed man" to be with his daughter at all, let alone with a gun?
AMEN!!!
My problem with all of this is that if it were to happen to me, I would be so grief-stricken I wouldn't be able to talk to ANYONE, let alone the media. Filing a lawsuit wouldn't even come to my mind this soon after, if at all ever. God forbid anyone in his family BLAME HIM for what happened--it's always automatically the police's fault. Let's make excuses for the....(fill in your own expletive here). I'm sorry, but if anyone were to use my child as a human shield, I'd dance on his grave.
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