A man shot and killed by Los Angeles police Monday morning in Boyle Heights was armed with an Airsoft gun, not a rifle, authorities said.
Around 8:30 a.m. Monday, LAPD Hollenbeck Division officers responded to a report of a man armed with a rifle near the corner of 8th and Spence streets, according to a department statement.
When officers arrived, they encountered a man barricaded inside a van and police shot him, police said.
Police later confirmed the man was not carrying a rifle but was “armed with an Airsoft MP5, able to shoot metallic projectiles with the orange tip removed.”
After the initial shooting, a SWAT team attempted to make contact with Flores by throwing gas inside the van, but the man did not respond. Once the area was secured, SWAT officers, along with Los Angeles Fire Department personnel, removed him from the van.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Friends later identified the man as 26-year-old Jeremy Flores.
Police have not said what prompted the officer’s use of lethal force. LAPD Officer Jeff Lee said the department will review bodycam footage and investigate whether the use of force was justified.
No other injuries were reported.
Centro CSO, a Boyle Heights-based grassroots organization, has scheduled a protest in response to the killing at 6 p.m. at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Spence Street.