Shooting of Deandre Brunston

Last updated
Shooting of Deandre Brunston
DateAugust 24, 2003 (2003-08-24)
Time9:00 p.m.
Location2431 E. 126th St, Compton, California, U.S.
Participants
  • Deandre Brunston (fatality)
  • Glenn Emery, Lt. Patrick Maxwell and Sgt. Earnest Burwell (police officers)
OutcomeNo charges
Litigation$340,000 settlement from Los Angeles County for Brunston's family

The shooting of Deandre "Trey" Brunston, a 24-year-old African-American, occurred in Compton, Los Angeles County, California, on August 24, 2003. He was shot 22 times by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, who fired 81 rounds. [1] In 2006, Brunston's family settled with the county for $340,000 after filing a lawsuit, accusing the sheriff's deputies of causing wrongful death.

Contents

Incident

At the time he was being sought for questioning from an alleged domestic abuse incident after his girlfriend called 9-1-1. [1] [2] After initially evading the police, Brunston was cornered in a nearby doorway where he and the officers tried to negotiate. [1] He repeatedly told the officers he was wanted for murder (which was false), would rather die right there than go back to prison, and that he was armed and would shoot a police dog and the deputies if the dog was released or they fired first. [1] However he had no gun but had a flip-flop sandal in his right hand hidden under his T-shirt. Brunston repeatedly stated that he would throw the "gun" down and surrender if he were allowed to speak to his girlfriend, Fonda Brown, who he said was pregnant with his child, [1] but his request was never granted.

At this point, many officers had their guns drawn and trained on Brunston. Lt. Patrick Maxwell had been contacted via cell phone while he was at a party in a drunken state. He ordered the dog to be released to attack Brunston. The senior K9 officer on the scene, Sgt. Earnest Burwell, refused to release the dog, claiming that releasing under those circumstances would violate the existing use-of-force policy. Burwell was replaced with a rookie K9 unit who made no such claims. The dog was released and Brunston refused to put the "gun" down when ordered to do so, instead yelling back to officers. He later threw it down when the dog was within a few feet of him, however the police had already decided to fire at that point and he was shot at less than a second afterwards. [1] Before the dog reached Brunston, deputies opened fire. The dog was hit by police bullets and fell a split second before it reached Brunston, who had taken one step in retreat from the dog. Within the next five seconds, deputies had discharged 81 shots, seriously wounding both Brunston and the dog, who both later died of their injuries. [1] [3]

Adding to the controversy of this shooting is the disparity in medical treatment—the wounded police dog received an emergency helicopter airlift from the scene to a veterinary center in Norwalk (where it died later) -- while Brunston was left bleeding to death on the concrete steps, leading to allegations of Brunston receiving sub-par treatment as compared to the dog. [4]

No gun was found on or near Brunston. [1] The incident was captured on police video and posted on numerous websites. The videotape was used in the lawsuit to support that the police had acted in haste. [2]

Aftermath

Deandre Brunston's aunt, Keisha Brunston, brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in response to the killing. [5] They alleged the deputies could have easily prevented the death, were poorly trained in these situations and were 'trigger-happy'. [1] Charges against the deputies were dropped and the suit focused on the supervisors and training. [1] The judge ruled that suit could still charge against the animal's handler and supervisors including civil rights violations, false arrest and "negligent hiring, training and supervision." [6] An order to release the police dog was allegedly given over a phone from an off-duty supervisor, who had been drinking. [1] The family's attorney noted that the officers present seemed to act in haste as a crisis team with a trained negotiator was en route to the scene and would have determined whether the young man was bluffing. [1] The family later settled with the county for $340,000 in March 2006. [7] Brunston's mother, Brenda Gaines, was awarded $122,500 with his three children also receiving sums. [8] The county also was ordered to pay $105,000 in legal fees. [7] Several deputies were also given two- to five-day suspensions for shooting when not designated as on-site shooters. [1]

Deandre Brunston has become a symbol against police brutality. [9] [10] [11] Keisha Brunston spoke at a War and Racism Forum in 2005 in Los Angeles. [12] His picture was held in a march in Atlanta, GA in 2007 for the U.S. Social Forum. [13] Brunston's family also spoke at a 2008 vigil for Muhammad Usman Chaudhry, an autistic Pakistani American, who was wrongfully killed by an LAPD officer. [14] [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Victoria Snelgrove</span> 2004 police shooting of an American student

Victoria E. Snelgrove was an American journalism student at Emerson College in Boston, who died after being shot by officer Rochefort Milien of the Boston Police Department using a less-lethal weapon. The shooting took place following the victory of the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. In 2005, the city of Boston reached a $5.1 million wrongful death settlement with Snelgrove's family. After filing a wrongful death suit for $10 million against FN Herstal, the family agreed to an out-of-court settlement in June of 2006; the final amount of the settlement was not disclosed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rampart scandal</span> Police corruption scandal that happened in Los Angeles, California, US

The Rampart scandal was a police corruption scandal which unfolded in Los Angeles, California, United States, during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The scandal concerned widespread criminal activity within the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division. More than 70 police officers were initially implicated in various forms of misconduct, including unprovoked shootings and beatings, planting of false evidence, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury and cover-ups thereof.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanessa Marquez</span> American actress (1968–2018)

Vanessa Rosalia Marquez was an American actress. She was primarily known for her recurring role in the first three seasons of ER as nurse Wendy Goldman, as well as her role as Ana Delgado in the 1988 biographical drama film, Stand and Deliver.

The shooting of Michael Sungman Cho occurred on December 31, 2007, in the Orange County city of La Habra, California. Cho, a 25-year-old Korean-American artist, was brandishing a tire iron outside a store and was shot by two police officers. The shooting was ruled justified by the Orange County district attorney. Cho's family received a $100,000 settlement from a lawsuit.

The killing of Douglas Zerby occurred on December 12, 2010 in Long Beach, California. Zerby, who was unarmed, was shot twelve times by two Long Beach Police Department officers while playing with a garden hose nozzle. They claimed that they mistook the hose nozzle for a gun and fired at Zerby, killing him, and did not make any verbal warnings or commands. It was later discovered through audio recordings of the officers radios that a house phone rang startling an officer causing him to shoot. The other officers fired once the first shooter did, blaming it on "contagious fire" proving the officers were not trained well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynwood Vikings</span> Los Angeles-based deputy gang

The Lynwood Vikings is one of several deputy gangs of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), appearing to meet the legal definition of a gang when taking into account the department's repeated illegal conduct. The Vikings, formerly based at the now-defunct Lynwood station, are composed of sworn deputy sheriffs in the LASD.

On August 31, 2001, a shootout occurred in Stevenson Ranch, an unincorporated community in Santa Clarita Valley, California. It resulted in the immediate deaths of James Allen Beck, a convicted felon, and Hagop "Jake" Kuredjian, a sheriff's deputy. Ten years later, ATF agent Jeff Ryan committed suicide resulting from the traumatic ordeal.

On February 4, 2018, Anthony Weber, a 16-year-old African-American boy, was fatally shot by deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Westmont, California. Deputies came to the scene because they received a 911 call. The caller claimed someone had pointed a gun at him. The deputies claimed that Weber reached into his waistband so they shot him over ten times. Deputies did not find a gun on Weber.

Andres Guardado was an 18-year-old Salvadoran-American man shot in the back and killed by a deputy sheriff from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on June 18, 2020, in the unincorporated community of West Rancho Dominguez, California, just outside of the Harbor Gateway section of the City of Los Angeles. Guardado ran from two uniformed police officers into an alley, where he died after being shot by deputies. Seven shots were fired and Guardado was hit in the upper torso. Police say that Guardado produced a handgun during the chase. Investigators do not believe it was fired. Accounts of the incident are disputed between police and witnesses. Police stated they were searching for footage of the incident. Store-owner Andrew Heney reported that several cameras at the scene, including a digital video recorder that stored surveillance footage, were taken and destroyed by police.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 The incident can be viewed along with camera person's descriptions and Deandre's actual communications with deputies that also appear in captions in a documentary "Catching Hell in the City of Angels". The video is quite graphic. The incident is shown as it played out in real time. The deputies are not seen but they can be heard as they were less than truthful with Deandre.Lawsuit questions tactics in L.A. sheriff's shooting Greg Risling, Associated Press in North County Times and SF Chronicle . January 16, 2006.
  2. 1 2 Lawyer Criticizes '03 Slaying of Suspect; The attorney for relatives of a man killed by deputies says a videotape contradicts the official account. Matt Lait, LA Times, January 11, 2006.
  3. ↑ Parolee, Police Dog Killed; The first sheriff's canine to die in the line of duty is accidentally shot as deputies confront man. Jose Cardenas, Los Angeles Times, Aug 26, 2003.
  4. ↑ "Parolee, Police Dog Killed". Los Angeles Times . 26 August 2003.
  5. ↑ "Demanding justice for Deandre Brunston", People's Weekly World, July 16, 2005.
  6. ↑ LA judge allows negligence suit in case of man killed by deputies San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2006.
  7. 1 2 Webb-Carrion case features well-regarded attorneys Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. 29 August 2006.
  8. ↑ Family Settle Suit With Calif. Police. Rochelle Hines, The America's Intelligence Wire March 2, 2006.
  9. ↑ People’s speak out stresses unity, denounces police brutality Malena Hinze, ANSWER Coalition.
  10. ↑ Police Murder!!! A National Emergency!!! March on Rampart Station Saturday, January 17, 2009 Community Coalition.
  11. ↑ Keishia Brunston, auntie of Deandre Brunston who was shot 81x by Compton sheriffs
  12. ↑ "Audio & Articles: War and Racism Forum. Oct 29, 2005. L.A.", Retrieved Apr. 26, 2009. Audio (MP3)
  13. ↑ "Thousands meet in Atlanta as U.S. Social Forum opens", The Militant, Vol. 71, No. 27, Jul. 9, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Community Vigil and Rally for Mohammad Usman Chaudhry", Pakistan Link, Apr. 25th, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Mohammad Usman Chaudhry, 21. Died March 25, 2008 at 4:21 a.m.", LA Times
  16. ↑ "Jury finds ex-LAPD officer liable in 2008 killing", LA Times, January 24, 2011
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.