The family of a man killed by Los Angeles police in an April 2018 shooting at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw mall demanded on Tuesday that the officers be terminated from their jobs.
LAPD responded to the mall after receiving a report of a knife-wielding man, later identified as 30-year-old Grechario Tyzavian Mack, acting erratically.
Sgt. Ryan Lee and Officer Martin Robles started shooting him and fired a final round when Mack dropped to the ground and tried to get up, according to the L.A. Police Commission. That last round violated LAPD policy that officers only use deadly force to protect themselves or others from injury or death, the oversight board ruled earlier this year.
Chief Michel Moore, who’s expected to decide on any disciplinary actions against the two officers, has said all 14 shots they fired aligned with agency policy.
A criminal case presented against the officers remained under review, the L.A. District Attorney’s Office said.
His parents said Mack was suffering from a mental condition, and that he had two daughters. On Tuesday, the family submitted a petition with 6,000 signatures to the Police Commission demanding that Lee and Robles be fired.
Flanked by advocates with Black Lives Matter and other supporters, they spoke outside at the Hall of Justice in downtown L.A. ahead of a Police Commission meeting.
“It was horrendous what they did to my son,” Quintus Moore said. “My son wasn’t the danger, LAPD was the danger that day.”
Mack’s mother, Catherine Walker, said: “Part of my heart is missing because somebody didn’t know my baby… Because they feared him and didn’t know him they decide because of his color they will kill him.”
Chief Moore was expected to comment on the case later Tuesday.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the year of the shooting. The post has been updated.