LAPD's Rampart station evacuated following threat connected to officer-involved shooting [Updated]

The Los Angeles Police Department evacuated its Rampart Area station Tuesday after an envelope containing an unknown powder was found at the station.

The envelope contained a threat directed at one of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a Guatemalan immigrant earlier this month in the Westlake District, according to sources familiar with the incident who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing. The nature of the threat was not specified.

[Updated at 2:34 p.m.: Officials said they determined the white powder was not hazardous.]

Nearly a dozen people may have been exposed to the powder around 1 p.m. at the station at 1401 S. 6th Street, according to police officials.

Manuel Jamines was shot and killed Sept. 5 at the corner of 6th and Union Avenue after police said he advanced on officers with a knife.

The LAPD said that Jamines was threatening people before the fatal confrontation. Residents and the LAPD agree that Jamines was intoxicated at the time of the shooting and witnesses said he had a knife. Another witness has questioned that account and whether the man represented an imminent threat to the officers.

The shooting led to protests, the largest of which took place days after the incident when about 300 protesters gathered at the LAPD's Rampart Station, some hurling eggs at police cars and others throwing objects at station windows.

Los Angeles city prosecutors have said they expect to charge more than a dozen people in the series of street protests in the Westlake district related to the shooting.

-- Andrew Blankstein

Comments

[THE A MAN]

THIS IS GONNA COST ALL OF US ALOT OF MONEY IF NOT LIVES. ALL THE HATE ON THIS BLOG ONLY GETS US NOWHERE. THESE OFFICERS SHOULD BE ARRESTED IMMEDIATLELY THEY ARE ENDANGERING THE LIFE OF ALL OF US.

THE PERSON WHO SENT THE ENVELOPE SHOULD BE PUT IN JAIL FOR LIFE.

[Vet1]

This is a case where the "A MAN" gets an "F". When a knife bearing attacker comes at you, you are entitled to defend yourself, whether you are the police or someone else. There is no basis for an arrest of the officers.

[All Hallows Eve]

I don't feel endangered . . .

[Robert]

The MAN is no doubt a little mouse. The media blogs and internet polls have percentages supporting the Officers. Only uneducated people don't understand how an officer can make a split decision. The Officer saved a woman's life and that of many around. But because you are too ignorant like many in the Westlake area to know the difference you continue to attack officers. The illegals in Westlake refuse to abide by our laws, refuse to speak English and refuse to behave like respectable residents in our City. This is why there is so much anger towards that community. Our officers having to babysit out of control residents is costing the tax payers of this city hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have marched like last Saturday AGAIN breaking the law cause they didn't have a permit. We will continue to support our Officers.

[a]

calm down all caps...

[Retired]

Never bring a knife to a gun fight. Drinking and weapons of any type do not mix.

[Wake up call]

This shooting could not have been any more cut and dry than it was. An intoxicated man with a knife, refused to drop the weapon after numerous orders to do so were given in both Spanish and English. The intoxicated man threatened pedestrians and then advanced on the officers with the knife. He was then shot. The citizens who flagged down the officers in the first place cooroborate the officers' statements. Wake up people. This is not television or the movies. Police don't shoot the knives out of peoples' hands, nor do they shoot people in the leg to stop them. Trying to shoot a moving person in the hand or leg in an already stressful situation will more often cause the shooter to miss and would lead to injuries or death for the officers or bystanders. For those of you who think this is racially motived, wake up. The guy with the knife could have been any race or color and would have been shot under the same circumstances. Lets not make this more than what it is.....armed man's descision to attack pedestrians and police with a knife was his own and he paid the price for it. Any protest or civil unrest resulting from this is ignorant at best. End of story.

[u know]

Well put Wake up call, ignorant hateful biased people such as THE A MAN don't want to hear logic or common sense. He sees the world through cloudy ultra liberal glasses. For those of you that haven't gotten it yet, try reading the California Penal Code, section 192(a)PC. There is a legal basis to kill a human being in defense of your own life or that of someone else.

[Astonished]

As I've said before, I totally support the LAPD in this. and I can tell you this: If I'm armed with a gun and some guy (or gal) armed wiht a knife charges at me, I can tell you right now who will be going home to their family and it wont be the guy with the knife.

Police everywhere do a thankless job every day. They're da*mned if they do their job and dam*ned if they don't. If the people in the Westlake District are that afraid of the LAPD, I have two solutions: 1. Go back to your home country so you don't have to be so afraid, or 2. Stop calling on the police to save you.

Better yet, I have the ideal solution. Let's fence off the Westlake District and make it a No-Cop Zone. This way, the residents can take care of their own scum without interfernce from the police, and LAPD can reassign the rampart police to areas that will appreciate them. PROBLEM SOLVED. Let's see how long it takes before all hell breaks loose.

[joesmithin@gmail.com]

.........drivel

[John C.]

It is simply outrageous the way these immigrants are acting. Round up the rioters and deport the non-citizens. No healthy society would tolerate foreign rioters. They only behave this way because they know their under the protection of the America-hating left.

[lap dog]

Let's face it - the the death of Mr. Jamines in the Westlake area has been exploited on every side possible as a cash cow.

I have had it up to the gills watching the low-brow telethon. I am ready to suggest the possibility that Mr. Jamines and the LAPD and the public have been set-up. I want an investigation to look for evidence which may point beyond coincidence.

We have had comments on these pages suggesting that one or more of the officers was notorious for his aggressive style. We have had comments saying that unissued Tasers were in the Rampart station while the bicycle patrol rode out without non-lethal alternatives.

I see red-flags under the highly connotative term "pregnant" to describe the woman who was "attacked" ( another emotionaly charged term with no legal definition).

Did Mr. Jamines even once touch any of these "victims". I don't believe he attacked anyone. Threatened maybe, but that is it. I want an inside -out questioning of any person claiming threat from Mr.Jamines before the cops got involved.

It is not often that a citizen gets to hand-pick which officer will be dispatched to their call.
The "pregnant" woman Mr. Jamines alledgedly attacked had the privilege of
"flagging down" an officer whose rep is to be a quick trigger.
She was able to bypass the dispatcher and directly use her words and demeanor to frame the officers perception of the man they were about to confront.

I want a detailed time/position graph for the bicycle patrol from beginning of shift. Isn't the new Rampart division station located 3-4 blocks from where Mr Jamines died?
If Officer Rodriguez was being set-up and the patrol had initialy left the station heading West - then only one or two spotters would be needed to signal the "pregnant woman" into the street to intercept the cops .

Why didn't the officers radio for vehicle back-up as soon as they were told the situation? Or maybe they did. It would take 60-180 seconds for back-up to arrive from the station on urgent.

The description of Mr. Jamines "closing the distance" is bothersome as a rationale for pulling the trigger. Everyone is outdoors. Can't the officers back-up or step to the side to "widen the distance"?

Maybe that wasn't possible to do and also maintain the safety of citizens nearby.
However, if Mr. Jamines is standing up and will be shot in the head then the officers have to be certain nobody is behind him outside, in a car or in a store
where that bullet could end up.
Mr. Jamines was holding the knife in the air over his head. That could also describe someone trying to "put their hands up in the air".
He didn't drop the knife. Maybe he couldn't unclench the hand muscles.
He is known to get drunk in public and become belligerent.
Maybe on the day he was killed he was not only drunk, but also hallucinating.
Let's get a full toxicology on him and check.
It was reported that a cousin or nephew of Mr.Jamines claimed to have seen him drinking in public that day and told him to stop and go home.
Right there is a potential contact who could have supplied a knife and dosed his beer.

Here is the list of the parties who could use the death as a fundraiser:

1. family seeking a settlement. and maybe family member eager to unload
the embarrassing drunken uncle.

2. attorney for plaintiffs in existing unlawful shooting claim against the
officer. Negotiating a settlement for his client just got a lot easier.

3. outside activist organizations under banner of protecting immigrants and
fighting police abuse can use this as a tool to appeal for funds from their
donor base.

4. anti-immigrant groups play the tape of the protests to shake money
from their donor tree.

5. anti-immigrant candidates use it to rally their voter base in the
conservative suburbs. Lets see how much airplay Westlake or a similiar
event will get after November 2.

6. Of course we must include the private fund raising machine called the
Police Union or Police Protective League. Which is not a labor
union assigned to bargain employment contracts, but a self appointed
lobbyist that needs cash flowing in to keep its director well paid and
assert influence with politicians.

The director of the L.A. Police Protective League grabs every
opportunity to emphasize the portrayal of cops suffering unending
persecution.

The envelope with powder which put Rampart in the news today
should provide a healthy boost to LAPPL's October contributions total.

[Ong Gia]

This only happen in America!

LA should as Chinese or Russian Government help on how to handle the misbehavior illegal aliens.

[impoundguy, Los Angeles, Ca.]

This should certainly help their cause and overwhelming support "NOT".
I hope "their" PR guy is not the same person who advises them on how to pull off their "illegal" entry because he does not have his game plan down very well....

[Kathleen]

Elected and appointed officials, and law enforcement, have permitted these illegal aliens to turn LA into a clone of the filthy, corrupt, and lawless countries they left behind before invading our country. Why anyone should/would pay taxes for police protection/law enforcement is beyond me. By paying taxes you pay to enable the criminal and corrupt behavior of Antonio V, other elected officials' salaries, and a police chief who does more to facilitate violating our laws than upholding and enforcing the laws.

[Jimi]

Thanks for the heads up! Now the gangs know how to empty a police station quickly.

That ought to help out the donut shops.