Undercover Officers Kill Man Wielding a Sawed-Off Shotgun

PANORAMA CITY — Undercover Los Angeles police officers on a stakeout shot and killed a 22-year-old father of three early Friday morning after he aptproached the officers’ unmarked car, demanded to know why they were in the neighborhood and pulled a sawed-off shotgun from his waistband, authorities said.

After the shooting, officers went door to door explaining the incident to residents, in a campaign aimed at preventing rumors from creating tensions in the area.

“If we just do our thing, wrap it up and leave, we leave the community with just whatever they’ve heard,” said Assistant Chief Bayan Lewis, who Sunday becomes interim chief of the LAPD.

If “we don’t provide any answers of what happened in their community and why,” he said, “they believe . . . all the wild rumors that circulate.”

The dead man was identified by friends as Simon Velasquez, a former gang member who lived in the 8300 block of Willis Avenue. Police released no identity.

Officer Dana Adams, 33, who has worked for the Los Angeles Police Department for nine years, and Joe Garcia, 24, an officer for just 18 months, shot the man after he allegedly showed them a sawed-off shotgun in his waistband and began pulling it out.

Velasquez, who lived in an apartment building on the street with his girlfriend and three young children, told a friend shortly before the 6:20 a.m. shooting that he thought his residence was being watched by someone.

It was later learned that Velasquez was wanted on a felony drug warrant in Las Vegas, police said.

Police said the officers were not staking out Velasquez’s apartment or even his building. Rather, the officers, who are assigned to the LAPD’s Pacific station, were attempting to track suspects in a Los Angeles International Airport theft operation at daybreak, sources said.

“I’m afraid their operation was blown,” said one police source. “It was a pretty major operation.”

Velasquez “was out on his balcony and he told me there were a lot of people watching him, watching his back,” said Raymond Martinez, 20, a friend and neighbor. “I think he wanted to defend himself, so he took out a gun . . . I guess he was paranoid.”

Martinez said the shotgun Velasquez carried was not functioning, but was used only to make threats.

Velasquez left his apartment and approached the car to learn the identities of the men, Martinez said.

“After speaking briefly to the officers, he pulled back his shirt and revealed the butt of his gun,” said Lt. Tony Alba, an LAPD spokesman.

“Both officers observed the weapon, identified themselves as police officers, and Officer Garcia ordered the suspect to back away,” a police statement said. “The suspect began to withdraw his weapon and both officers in fear of their lives fired at the suspect.”

“Apparently unaffected” by the officers’ rounds, the man withdrew the shotgun and pointed it at them as they continued to fire, the statement said.

“He pointed it at them,” Alba said.

After he was shot, Velasquez limped inside the apartment building courtyard where he slumped over and later died, according to police and witnesses. His girlfriend ran to him and neighbors heard her shout for someone to call the police, then overheard her say: “I love you. You’re not going to die.”

Velasquez’s relatives, who gathered Friday afternoon at a family member’s Pacoima home, said Velasquez was shot many times, including two or three times in the back while he was running away from police.

“They shouldn’t have done this,” said Ruth Castaneda, a cousin. “They could have arrested him but not killed him.”

Police refused to discuss specifically where or how many times the man was shot.

Neighbors in nearby apartment buildings said they heard nine or 10 shots fired. Police would not reveal how many times the officers fired their service weapons; an internal investigation into the shooting is underway.

Police said other officers were in the area on the same surveillance and that they arrived at the scene soon after the shooting. But the other officers did not witness or overhear the events leading up to the man’s death, sources said.

Velasquez’s relatives said they are also upset that his girlfriend was hurt by police. When she ran over to him, relatives said, police grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to the ground and bruising her back.

Police refused to discuss the complaint.

But police did tell residents about the shooting, fanning out across the neighborhood in five teams. LAPD officials say they are trying more frequently to inform residents when there is unusual police activity in their neighborhoods.

Some residents told police they believed the shooting was a result of a domestic violence dispute; others thought it was a drug deal gone bad.

Police said the effort, part of the community-based policing model, is aimed more at giving--rather than receiving--information. But they acknowledged that some witnesses could emerge when officers talk to residents near crime scenes.

“There might be some information that comes out of it,” said Deputy Chief Martin Pomeroy, who commands the LAPD’s Valley Bureau. But, he said, “the purpose is not a canvass for information, it’s not a canvass for clues. The purpose is to let the community know what happened.”

Said Capt. Richard Wemmer, who oversees the Van Nuys police station: “We do it any time we can to make the community understand what we have done. It makes our job easier.”

Friday’s shooting also reemphasized the volatile nature of police surveillance efforts throughout the city. Stakeouts, in fact, have become among the most challenging work for police, LAPD officials said.

“You don’t only have to watch your suspect . . . you’ve got to watch 360 degrees around you because of what other people might be trying to do to you,” Lewis said. “This is not an isolated incident. Stakeouts are a terribly dangerous part of our business.”

The officers were parked on the block for nearly 1 1/2 hours before Velasquez approached them, police said.