Gunfire and Death at Costco Food Sample Line

[MechAg94]

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-costco-tasting-line-dispute-shooting-corona-20190618-story.html

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-costco-shooting-off-duty-police-20190619-story.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true
The second link is what I saw first, but it seemed to be mostly editorial stuff. 

I thought this might be an interesting shooting to watch.  It seems an off duty officer and his wife and 1 year old were in line for free samples at CostCo.  Also in line were an older couple and a special needs 32 year old who didn't talk much.  Apparently details are fuzzy, but some sort of altercation started and the officer shot all three of them.  The 32 year old is dead and the parents are in intensive care.  The officer claims the 32 year old attacked him and he was knocked to the ground briefly unconscious.  This is apparently disputed, but I don't know if they talked to the parents or not.  No witnesses are quoted that I noticed.  No security video has been released.  If available, I think that will be the only way to resolve this.

In the comments, someone dug up that this officer is one of the group who fired on a couple of newspaper delivery people a few years back when they were hunting for a cop killer. 

I cam across this because it was said some were using it as a reason to not allow police to carry guns off duty.  I don't see it.

[Ben]

The Costco food sample line - AKA, "The Octagon".

[BobR]

Costco, police shooting, video, I think I haven't seen this video before.

Bob

[brimic]

Wait- isn't Cosco a gun free zone?

[brimic]

"Obayashi said the officer’s justification for the shooting might be that he could not protect his 1-year-old without deploying his firearm."

WTF? was he using his baby as soft armor?


https://tacticalbabygear.com/products/tbg-tactical-baby-carrier

[brimic]

I cam across this because it was said some were using it as a reason to not allow police to carry guns off duty.  I don't see it.

I agree with the sentiment- if every other citizen is denied the right to carry, why should cops get special privileges?

[dogmush]

I cam across this because it was said some were using it as a reason to not allow police to carry guns off duty.  I don't see it.

That's one of those where I have to ask questions like "How difficult is it to get a CCW where that officer is?"  Places like LA, I could get behind asking why off duty cops need firearms.  There's court precedent that they are not, in fact, required to intervene if they see lawbreaking, and indeed in many cases a non uniformed officer trying to enforce the law is more dangerous then just letting their on duty coworkers handle it.

If citizen's can't carry arms for protection, then I have a hard time swallowing that off duty LEO's are that special.  It's the same sentiment that makes me rfuse to own a Kimber.  They made a special 1911 for LAPD, that they did not sell to the citizens of LA.  That's crap.

[Firethorn]

If citizen's can't carry arms for protection, then I have a hard time swallowing that off duty LEO's are that special.  It's the same sentiment that makes me rfuse to own a Kimber.  They made a special 1911 for LAPD, that they did not sell to the citizens of LA.  That's crap.

As long as they put the NYC-2 trigger on it, we should be fine.   

[Angel Eyes]

Mad Max: Beyond Costco.

[griz]

The only way I can imagine a scenario where it was necessary to shoot all three is if they were all attacking at once.  While that CAN happen, it just seems unlikely, but as said there isn't enough to go on yet.

[MechAg94]

The only way I can imagine a scenario where it was necessary to shoot all three is if they were all attacking at once.  While that CAN happen, it just seems unlikely, but as said there isn't enough to go on yet.

Maybe he used his command voice and they didn't do what he said.

1.  One or more parents could have been behind the 32 year old.
2.  One or more may have jumped in front of him protectively.  Or since he was mentally disabled, he may have tried to hide. 
3.  If they were next to him, the officer may just be a bad shot rattling off 7 or 8 rounds as quick as he could.
4.  Could be one of the parents tried to stop him from shooting. 

If there is video and it gets released, that will answer most of my questions.  If this were a non-cop, video or witness statements would be needed to back up their statements to prove it was self defense.  In this case, I don't know.  The article hinted that witnesses may not back up the officer's story, but they didn't quote anyone.

[Regolith]

In the comments, someone dug up that this officer is one of the group who fired on a couple of newspaper delivery people a few years back when they were hunting for a cop killer.  

If true, that POS should have been in jail years ago. I remember when that happened. They opened fire with absolutely no warning, and pretty obviously without positive ID. It was a blatant assassination attempt, not a police action. The only reason two innocent women aren't dead is because they were bad marksmen.

[MechAg94]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/costco-shooting.html
Witness quoted

Dianne Bawit, a 21-year-old student at California State University San Marcos, said she had been shopping for bottled water when she saw a man, who she later learned was the police officer, falling to the ground. She said he had appeared to be in distress.

“He fell pretty hard because I heard a pretty big thump on the ground,” Ms. Bawit said. “He looked like he had a heart attack.”

Ms. Bawit said she initially went to help the officer, but retreated as the altercation escalated.

“He stood up by himself. He pulled out his handgun and starts triggering five to seven shots,” Ms. Bawit said, adding that she was within 10 feet of the men and then took cover. “I was hiding in between the meat aisle, behind the freezer section. I thought I was going to be dead, too.”

So it appears something happened that had the off duty cop falling over.  Now what was happening that justified him getting up, drawing, and shooting?  Shouldn't there have to be a continuing threat?  Still need video to know anything.

[MechAg94]

If true, that POS should have been in jail years ago. I remember when that happened. They opened fire with absolutely no warning, and pretty obviously without positive ID. It was a blatant assassination attempt, not a police action. The only reason two innocent women aren't dead is because they were bad marksmen.

I found the links buried in the comments.  

https://www.dailybreeze.com/2016/01/27/da-no-charges-against-lapd-officers-in-shooting-of-newspaper-carriers-during-dorner-manhunt/

About 5:15 a.m., Carranza, and her mother, Hernandez, then 71, pulled into the residential neighborhood from Del Amo Boulevard and turned onto Redbeam Avenue to toss the Los Angeles Times onto customers’ driveways. A Harbor Division officer, Salvador Sanchez, told investigators he had arrived to provide replacement batteries to the officers providing security on Redbeam. An officer, he said, motioned to him to take cover as the truck approached. He then heard seven shots.

This would indicate he wasn't the shooter in that previous incident assuming this is the same officer.  He was just at the scene.  

http://da.lacounty.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/JSID_OIS_Carranza%2C%20Hernandez.pdf