Andres Guardado: Lawyers recommend $8 million settlement in fatal shooting of man by LASD deputy

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Andres Guardado

LOS ANGELES - Lawyers representing Los Angeles County have recommended an $8 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by the parents of an 18-year-old man who was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy near Gardena in 2020.

Andres Guardado was shot around 6 p.m. June 18, 2020, near the 400 block of West Redondo Beach Boulevard. Sheriff's officials said two patrol deputies were at the scene when Guardado pulled out a handgun, then began running. Deputies chased him and caught up with him in an alley, where one deputy opened fire, deputies said.

Guardado was pronounced dead at the scene. Sheriff's officials said a weapon was discovered at the scene --an unregistered .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol with a polymer frame and no serial number, a Smith & Wesson slide and a prohibited 15-round Glock magazine fully loaded.

Guardado's parents, Elisa Guardado and Cristobal Edgardo Guardado, sued the county and the Sheriff's Department in August 2020, alleging that a deputy fired at their son "without provocation or justification" and that five bullets hit him in the back.

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But the county lawyers state in their proposed settlement papers that Guardado initially complied after being warned by a deputy to drop his gun and get on the ground, then later "repositioned himself" within three inches of the firearm and tried to reach for it as the deputy approached him, prompting the deputy to open fire.

Guardado's family members previously said he had worked as a security guard for an auto body shop in the area, but county lawyers state in their papers that Guardado was not in uniform at the time and that it was "inconclusive" whether he was still employed in that job.

Torrance Superior Court Judge Gary Y. Tanaka has scheduled an Oct. 17 hearing on the status of the settlement, which is subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors.