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U.S. NEWS Monday 17 June 2019

LAPD investigates officer's

actions in Costco shooting

By STEFANIE DAZIO declined to give specifics a pocketknife and ap-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The about his mental condition. proaches him, game over,"
Los Angeles Police Depart- French was "non-violent, Giacalone said Sunday.
ment is gathering evidence non-aggressive, non-ver- Police have not said if Heavily armed police officers exit the Costco following a
and video footage in an bal," his cousin said, and French had any weapons shooting inside the wholesale warehouse in Corona, Calif.,
administrative investigation "he has to be pretty much or if the officer identified Friday, June 14, 2019.
into an off-duty officer who monitored." himself as police before fir- Associated Press
shot and killed a man au- "He's not the kind to trade ing.
thorities say attacked him words, so I don't believe Giacalone said video foot-
inside a Southern California that a verbal confrontation age from Costco's cameras
Costco Wholesale ware- happened," Shureih said. and shoppers' cellphones
house store. The LAPD will continue its will be critical to the dual
Authorities remained tight- internal probe as Corona investigations.
lipped Sunday, not re- police and the Riverside While it's not unusual for
sponding to requests for County district attorney's police to delay releasing
comment about what office conduct a separate information such as an offi-
provoked the Friday night investigation into the shoot- cer's name in a shooting for
confrontation and wheth- ing. The LAPD said Sunday safety reasons, Giacalone
er anyone but the officer it had no further informa- said it's important to get
was armed. Two others tion. Corona police and details out as quickly as
were critically injured in the the district attorney's office possible.
shooting in Corona, which did not respond to requests "People start filling in the
is about 40 miles (64 kilome- for comment Sunday. timelines for you" in the
ters) east of Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Com- meantime, he said.
The officer opened fire af- mission President Steve The shooting prompted a
ter Kenneth French, 32, of Soboroff said Sunday it is stampede of frightened
Riverside, "assaulted" him Chief Michel Moore's de- shoppers, some who fled
"without provocation" as cision whether to put the the store as others sought
the officer held his young officer on leave, but it re- cover inside.
child, Corona police said mained unclear if that hap- Witnesses reported seeing
Saturday. pened. The officer's identity an argument between two
Bullets struck French and has not been released. He people near a freezer sec-
two of his family members, was treated and released tion when shots rang out at
according to police. The at a nearby hospital and least six times.q
officer was the only person his child was not injured.
who fired shots in the store, The department's policies
police said. allow off-duty officers to
Rick Shureih, French's cous- carry concealed weapons
in, told The Press-Enterprise as long as they are autho-
that he was a "gentle gi- rized for on-duty use, ac-
ant" who was mentally dis- cording to the LAPD man-
abled. ual.
Shureih also identified Joseph Giacalone, a pro-
the other two victims as fessor at the John Jay Col-
French's parents, Russell lege of Criminal Justice
and Paola French, and said and a retired New York
they remained in an inten- City Police Department ser-
sive care unit Sunday. Au- geant, said it's justifiable to
thorities have not released use deadly force even in
their names. a crowded store if the at-
French's family is seeking an tacker has a weapon.
attorney, Shureih said, and "If the guy pulled out