Rosemead: Man, 25, is fatally shot by sheriff's deputies

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies fatally shot an unidentified man after he allegedly attacked one of them with a metal pole in the 3200 block of Burton Avenue at 12:08 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Deputies involved in the shooting had been called to investigate reports of an assault with a deadly weapon after the man allegedly stabbed his girlfriend with a long knife or sword, then ran away, said  Sgt. Rich Pena of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies set up a perimeter, using police dogs and helicopters to find the man inside an empty house, where he allegedly threatened them with the pole, Pena said. He injured one of the deputies, Pena said.

"They determined that the person was dangerous due to the crime he had already committed, and he attacked them with a metal weapon," Pena said. "Fearing for their safety, they took action."
Deputies fired at the man, who died at the scene. His girlfriend was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive. The injured deputy was treated at a hospital and released, Pena said.

—Molly Hennessy-Fiske

UPDATE: The man who died was identified by the Los Angeles County coroner's office as Joshua Stephenson, a 25-year-old black man. His time of death was listed at 12:32 a.m.

Comments

[windy smith]

police can go to hell there racist against black men & us as a people reguardless i cant curse like i want but if i could you'd be every name in the book, that was my cousin there are other alternatives to stop someone but the bastards dont think so they shoot to kill!! r.i.p joshie i love u & u are sooo deeply missed by us all you are free of hurt and pain!

[Erin]

In nearly 90% of cases where a civilian is killed by an officer, the civilian is black. Research on the pscychological evaluations of police officers has shown a majority of officers value the life of black suspects, less than they do other suspects. Combine that with the lack of availabilty and training of LAPD with non-lethal weaponry, and you can understand why blacks need to hold not just their heads, but also their hands high.

[Rick]

If the Sheriff's had of used a taser or something and he dies, there still would be people complaining. Taser and bean bags guns don't work all the time. Getting hit in the head or something with a good size pole can kill you.

[PhilliesWS08]

i would think that if i were in a team of police officers facing off against a guy who's been running for his life..out of breath swinging a large metal pole, i would be able to incapacitate him with a shot to the knee, or a simple tazing could have sufficed. one would imagine a large net could have worked....tear gas him out...

[reality]

are u people kidding me? ask yourself this question, can a metal pole kill you if hit over the head?.....yes it can. HE was using deadly force, so the cops acted 100% within the scope of their duty and therefor used deadly force.

[geez]

Dee, John and Kim,

Rubber bullets, the size of the pole, the injury to others, training and review board. Well if it wasn't his time to die I guess God would have let him live. Make stupid choices and live and or die by those choices. Oh yeah, that's right we live in a society that doesn't demand accountablity unless you wear a uniform.

[M]

What is so hard to understand? The man brutally assaulted someone, which prompted the police to come out. When the police arrived, the man continued to threaten the police officers with a weapon. This was not a case of someone reaching for their keys, this man was threatening the police with a weapon. If he cooperated with the police and was not brandishing a weapon, he would still be alive today. It is common sense.

[Courtney Kincaid]

The message is clear- assault the police with a weapon and you don't go to jail, you go to the hospital and maybe even the morgue. This is as it should be.
If the criminals thought that they could assault the police and a) best case scenario: 'escape', b) worst case scenario: 'go to jail' (where they were headed anyway if they didn't fight), they will choose assault far more often. That third scenario of c): 'be shot and probably killed' has to be introduced into their decision making process. This helps to reduce both officer assaults and criminal resistance. This, again, is as it should be.

RIP, Josh. They should have told you it was a multiple choice test!

[Kim Smith]

What happen to the use of the rubber bullets or bean bags. because the police was called he was going to get some jail time out the deal but why kill the man. This is why people in the communities are reluctant to trust the police, fear them and do try to evade them. The use of firearms aren't always the way to resolve the issue the suspect did not have a gun himself therefore one should not have been use on him. By the media reports on this incident there was more than one officer to draw and fire their weapon and why does several officers have to do so, on one suspect. Police officers that do so should be brought before the board for review and training again.

[john]

Two cops a dog and they still needed to shoot him so many times. Sounds like a common case of cops taking action that's not called for. Suposedly he hit him with a pole, but not enough to were the cop had to be treated for seriouse wounds. Sounds fishy to me. Rip josh

[Dee]

So because he threaten cops with a metal pole it was right to kill him? how big was this pole? now there doesnt even have to be a gun involved to kill a person......so whats the point of tazers and rubber bullets??? police always suprising me