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Ezell Ford Autopsy Released: Ford Shot in the Back, Death Confirmed as a Homicide

By Jessica Glenza, Guardian UK

30 December 14

Report on police shooting of unarmed black man finds three gunshot wounds suffered in confrontation with anti-gang officers

n unarmed black man was shot three times by Los Angeles police officers, once each in the back, side and arm, according to a coroner’s report released on Monday, more than four months after his death.

The report also says a muzzle imprint was found around the wound in Ezell Ford’s back and that he had abrasions to his left hand, forearm and elbow.

The autopsy, which was first obtained by the Los Angeles Times, officially classifies Ford’s death as a homicide. It was released ahead of a Wednesday deadline imposed by the city’s mayor.

Ford, a mentally ill 25-year-old, was shot dead 11 August after police say he lunged for an officer’s gun. Police have released few details about why Ford was stopped in his South Los Angeles neighborhood by two officers assigned to the department’s anti-gang unit. A statement released shortly after Ford’s death said two officers attempted to stop him on a sidewalk, but he “continued walking and made suspicious movements” before the interaction escalated.

Police said the report’s findings appeared to be in line with officers’ initial statements about a struggle and a close-range shooting.

According to the account read out by Los Angeles Police Department chief Charlie Beck, Ford was on top of the officer and grappling for the officer’s holstered weapon when his partner fired two shots and the fallen officer pulled a backup gun and shot Ford in the back.

Beck said officers told investigators it was a violent struggle in which “the [downed] officer drew his backup gun and reached over Mr Ford’s back and shot Mr Ford in very close proximity, possibility, probably the cause of the muzzle imprint mentioned in the coroner’s report”.

He said the muzzle imprint was consistent with the type of weapon used by the officer, and that the other weapon was a semi-automatic pistol that probably would not leave the same kind of mark.

Beck said: “There is nothing in the coroner’s report that is inconsistent with the statements given to us by the officers.”

But he said the investigation was not over. “We will find out the truth of what happened on that August night,” Beck said, according to the LA Times.

The lack of information about and the timing of the shooting – just two days after police in Ferguson, Missouri, shot dead 18-year-old Michael Brown – has frustrated activists, and sparked protests and distrust in the city.

“People fear the police,” said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, leader of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, at a press conference in response to city officials’ most recent plea for witnesses in November. “People in that community fear coming forward because of all the history.”

Police officials say they delayed release of the autopsy to allow time for witnesses to come forward. They have made public pleas for witnesses from the South Central Los Angeles neighborhood to contact them, and said the autopsy could corroborate witness accounts.

“There is significant evidence within the report that could add credibility to a witness’ statement,” Beck told reporters at a November press conference. “I won’t go any further than that, just to say there is a definitive reason why we hold this report.”

Heightened tensions could account for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s unusual call for police to release the report before the new year, the Times reported. Announcing the deadline last month, the mayor said releasing the report was “important for the family, that is important for the community, and that is important for our city.”

Also on Monday, Los Angeles police searched for one of two gunmen who opened fire on a Los Angeles police patrol car on Sunday night, prompting a citywide manhunt.