(FOX 11) - Flanked by activists and families of people killed by law enforcement, Teresa Dominguez said "I want justice." Her 14-year-old son, Jesse Romero, was shot and killed by LAPD officers on August 9 th . The official report indicates the boy and two others were spraying graffiti on a wall in Boyle Heights when gang officers approached. The three ran, and Romero, according to police, grabbed his front waistband and then crouched with his arms extended forward. One of the officers fired his gun twice, killing the 14-year-old.
A cell phone video shot right after the shooting was obtained by LA Weekly reporter Jason McGahan. You can see the boy on the ground, and the officers around him. Can you see a gun on the ground? According to police, it belonged to the boy, and had been shot right before they fired at Romero.
But according to a woman interviewed by reporters, who described herself as a witness, Romero threw the gun towards the fence, and it went off when it hit the ground. That sound, she says, startled the boy, who turned around and was then shot by the officers. She insists that the boy did not shoot the gun, or have it in his hands when the officers fired.
The attorney representing Romero's family, Humberto Guizar, says the video shows the gun on the other side of the fence as the body, adding that the family is suing the police department. LAPD responds that they do not comment on pending litigation.
Watch the video, what do you think?
(Video obtained exclusively by LA Weekly )