LAPD Shooting of Unarmed Man Was Justified, Police Commission Finds

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday found that officers were justified in shooting an unarmed man in Los Feliz last summer who had a towel wrapped around one of his hands.

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday found that officers were justified in shooting an unarmed man in Los Feliz last summer who had a towel wrapped around one of his hands, reports the Los Angeles Times.

A report released Tuesday revealed new details about the high-profile case. Minutes before he was shot and gravely wounded, Walter William DeLeon told a witness to call 911 and tell the operator he had a gun, the report said.

DeLeon, a father of two, was struck in the head and permanently injured.

According to a report Chief Charlie Beck submitted to the commission, a witness called 911 two minutes before officers saw DeLeon walking toward their patrol car, which was stopped in traffic along busy Los Feliz Boulevard.

The caller told a California Highway Patrol dispatcher that a man, later identified as DeLeon, "just walked by me and said, 'Call 911. Let them know I'm walking down the street, and I have a gun in my hand,'" according to the report.

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