Shots Fired As LAPD Attempts To Stop Armed Suspect

The LAPD has put out body camera footage showing one of its officers shooting at a fleeing armed suspect on a sidewalk in South Los Angeles last month.

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LAPD Officer Opens Fire

On the evening of May 12, LAPD Officer Joshua Parker and his partner, both with LAPD’s Metropolitan Division, were on patrol in an unmarked vehicle when they spotted two men whom they believed to be involved in gang activity. Commander Alan Hamilton, head of the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division, says one of the men “exhibited activity consistent with possession of a firearm.”

Parker and his partner got out of their vehicle and tried to make contact with the two men. That’s when one of the men, later ID’d as 20-year-old Kevin Palencia, took off down the sidewalk.

The officers gave chase, at which point Officer Parker find his duty gun at Palencia. Palencia wasn’t hit by the gunfire and was promptly arrested by Parker and his partner.

The Missing Handgun

According to the LAPD, Palencia held a gun as he fled. The “Community Briefing” video below even has a freeze frame of the gun in Palencia’s right hand. It also slows down one of the officer’s body cameras to show Palencia discarding both a firearm and a magazine. However, Palencia’s handgun couldn’t be located at the scene. This is because, as the video shows, Palencia’s accomplice picked up the handgun while the officers were chasing Palencia. He then fled the area. While the gun wasn’t found, the magazine was recovered and booked into evidence.