Police
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies Fatally Shoot Dijon Kizzee After He Was Stopped For a Vehicle Violation While Riding His Bike
29-year-old Dijon Kizzee was shot and killed by Los Angeles Deputy after being stopped for a bicycle code violation.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have shot and killed Djon Kizzee after initiating a bicycle stop for an alleged “code violation.”
Dijon Kizzee police shooting
At around 3:15 p.m. on Monday, in South LA, LASD deputies saw a man on a bike, and chose to stop him under the pretext of “riding a bicycle in an unlawful manner.”
According to the sheriff’s department, 29-year-old Kizzee got off his bike and ran from the officers as they attempted to stop him.
Police account
Kizzee was reportedly carrying a bundle of clothing with him as he fled.
According to Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Dean account of the shooting, the deputies caught up with the man several blocks away, and as they closed in, Kizzee punched one of the officers and dropped what he had been carrying.
Officers say they saw a semi-automatic handgun lying on the ground among the clothing items.
When the deputies tried to stop Kizzee, Dean stated, he ditched his bike and started running. The deputies eventually caught up with him and a scuffle ensued.
“Our suspect was holding some items of clothing in his hands, punched one of the officers in the face and then dropped the items in his hands,” Dean said.
“The deputies noticed that inside the clothing items that he dropped was a black semiautomatic handgun, at which time a deputy-involved shooting occurred.”
That’s when the deputies opened fire on Kizzee, reportedly shooting him as many as 20 times in the back, despite the fact that Kizzee had dropped the gun he had been carrying, and thus, was unarmed.
Kizze died at scene.
A couple of hours after deputies killed Kizzee, the LASD issued a statement saying that a man had been “struck by gunfire.
Dijon Kizzee police shooting video
Video of the moments directly after the shooting shows deputies handcuffing Kizzee, as the man taking the cell phone video yells, “He’s dead already. How you gonna handcuff a dead man?”
The sheriff’s department reportedly left Kizzee’s body on the ground late into the night. After 11:00 p.m. protesters were Tweeting that Kizzee’s body was still on the street, 8 hours later.
Tensions have been mounting since the shooting. On Monday
Family attorney
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump has been retained by the family.