Commission Says LAPD Officers Violated Policy Shooting Knife-Wielding Man in Mall

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Police Commission ruled that the last round fired by each officer in the fatal shooting of Grechario Mack on April 10 violated department policy to use deadly force only when protecting oneself or others from imminent injury or death.

Mack reportedly ran through the crowded Baldwin Hills Crenshaw shopping mall, armed with a foot-long kitchen knife. When he wouldn’t drop the knife, two Los Angeles police officers began shooting at the man. After he fell to the ground and tried to get up, still gripping the knife, each officer sent one more bullet his way.

The unanimous decision by the five-member civilian oversight board contradicted Chief Michel Moore, who had concluded that all five shots from one officer and all nine shots from the other officer were in policy, the Los Angeles Times reports.

A report to the Police Commission by Moore describes a chaotic situation in a mall full of shoppers, with Mack appearing to be in a state of "agitated delirium."

Two sergeants repeatedly ordered Mack to drop the knife, according to the report. They discussed using a TASER, but after an officer with a beanbag shotgun arrived, a sergeant shouted to use the less-lethal weapon. Mack then ran toward stores with shoppers inside, the report said.

Chief Moore will now decide what discipline the officers should face, and L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey will determine whether they are to be criminally charged.