A 38-year-old man experiencing a mental health crisis called 911 and was later shot and killed by a police officer in a shootout on the steps of a Long Beach church, injuring another officer, but his family hopes for justice. I’m looking for. .
The deadly shootout on Nov. 19 occurred in the area of Atlantic Avenue and 52nd Street, where Long Beach Police Department officers and the SWAT team responded to a call of a “man with a gun” just after 3 p.m. Ta.
The suspect, Brandon Boyd, a father of six, was pronounced dead at the scene.
LBPD said after the incident, “After approximately two and a half hours of attempted de-escalation, the suspect and officer both fired their firearms.” “An officer sustained a gunshot wound to the arm. The suspect sustained a gunshot wound.”
“Brandon had his hands up and was not posing any threat, as confirmed by multiple witnesses,” his sister Tiffany Boyd said at a news conference Tuesday. “He seemed calm and needed help.”
Tiffany and her relatives allege that Brandon was wrongfully murdered, saying he called 911 from the steps of his childhood place of worship, the Iglesia del Cristo Miel church, while he was suffering from mental health issues. are.
One person was killed and another injured in a standoff outside a Long Beach church on November 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) One person was killed and another injured in a standoff outside a Long Beach church on November 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) One person was killed and another injured in a standoff outside a Long Beach church on November 19, 2024. (KTLA) One person was killed and another was injured in the incident. Nov. 19, 2024, standoff outside a church in Long Beach. (OnScene.TV) One person is killed and another injured in a standoff outside a Long Beach church on November 19, 2024. (OnScene.TV) 1 person On November 19, 2024, one person was killed and another was injured during a standoff outside a church in Long Beach. (OnScene.TV) Long Beach, November 19, 2024 (OnScene.TV)
His family says the authorities’ response to his calls for help was excessive and brutal.
“He did what we were supposed to do, which is to ask for help,” family friend Ramikia Castillo told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff. “Instead of getting help, he’s already gone and the family has to pick up the pieces and solve this.”
Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish said LBPD’s specialized team attempted to de-escalate the situation and engaged Brandon using non-lethal tactics to get him to release his gun, but after two hours the 38-year-old refused. He said he did.
Southern California man accused of killing two young children charged with murder
Police said Brandon eventually pointed the gun in their direction, resulting in a shootout that left Brandon dead and one officer with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
“Officers attempted to speak with the uncooperative subject,” Chief Hebeish said that night. “They called for additional resources, including hostage negotiators and a psychiatric evaluation team.”
Brandon’s family disputed the claims, saying mental health professionals had never interacted with their loved one.
His oldest sister, Tierra Boyd, said she and two other family members tried to reassure Brandon and all three were arrested on obstruction charges.
“We were dragged away in handcuffs and thrown into a police car like we were criminals who had shot our brother dead right in front of us,” she said.
The Boyd family is now demanding that police release Brandon’s 911 call and drop the charges.
As for the Long Beach Police Department, officials said they would release footage of the shootout captured by officers’ body-worn cameras to the public as soon as possible.
Source link
