LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was charged with fatally shooting a suicidal man who was laying on the ground, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Remin Pineda was charged Wednesday with assault with a semiautomatic firearm and assault under color of authority in the March 2021 shooting of David Ordaz Jr.
It wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Deputies had gone to a home in East Los Angeles after Ordaz's sister called to say he had a knife and was suicidal, the county district attorney's office said in a statement.
Ordaz, 34, was holding a 12-inch kitchen knife when deputies arrived to talk to him and he urged them to shoot him, authorities said.
Ordaz didn't heed orders to drop the weapon and was shot with beanbag rounds and then with bullets when he came forward toward the deputies, according to video from deputies' body cameras.
“After Ordaz fell to the ground, had dropped the knife and laid with his back facing the deputies, Pineda is accused of continuing to fire his handgun," the DA's office statement said.
Pineda was relieved of his peace officer powers after the shooting, a status that will continue pending the outcome of court proceedings in the case, the Sheriff's Department said.
“Unlawful and excessive force at the hands of police erodes the public trust and leads to further divisions between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” District Attorney George Gascón said. “It is imperative that we hold law enforcement accountable when they act unlawfully.”
