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California police open fire on suspect ‘tragically’ killing innocent bystander

This is the second such incident in two months involving a California cop

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Tuesday 24 August 2021 12:11 BST
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An innocent bystander was "tragically" killed when a California police officer opened fire to shoot another suspect, authorities said.

The incident took place on Saturday night in the small coastal town of Guadalupe, located 165 km from Los Angeles, the Santa Barbara County sheriff’s office said in a statement issued on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as 59-year-old Juan Luis Olvera-Preciado, who was pronounced dead at the spot. Mr Preciado was sitting in his car nearby when the police officers started firing at the suspect who was wanted on a no-bail felony arrest warrant.

However, the authorities did not immediately identify the officer or provide the reason that led to the firing. The felony suspect was later arrested.

“At this early stage of the investigation, the details that are available for release are that an officer fired his service weapon at the wanted suspect, but instead struck an uninvolved resident who was sitting in a vehicle in the 100 block of Obispo Street,” the statement read.

Guadalupe police chief Michael Cash met Preciado’s family to “offer his condolences and to coordinate support services.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta's office on Monday announced an independent investigation and review of the shooting incident. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020 which rocked the United States, the new law requires prosecutors to investigate the use of force against unarmed civilians.

In a statement, Mr Bonta's office said: "Alongside local authorities, the California Department of Justice is investigating the incident. Once the investigation has been completed, it will be turned over to the California Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review.”

Meanwhile, the Bakersfield police department was found guilty of violating the constitutional rights of residents by using "unreasonable deadly force" and conducting unnecessary arrests, searches, and other practices, a four-year-long state investigation revealed.

As per a stipulated judgement between the city of California and the Department of Justice, the police department will ban the use of electronic control weapons such as tasers on handcuffed individuals.

Earlier in July this year, the police shot and killed a man carrying what turned out to be a replica of a handgun on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

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