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Pasadena Police Chief Addresses Officer Involved Shooting Death of Black Male
News Aug 19, 2020
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‘There is aproblem with weapons in this town’ said Chief Perez
In the pastyear, Pasadena Police efforts have taken 180 guns off the street and seven inthe past week alone, Chief John Perez told Pasadena Independent Monday.
Despitecontinuous efforts and enforcement, guns, often called ghost guns, still end upon the streets of Pasadena and often in the hands of criminals. Perez said hisofficers face this possibility every time they make a stop. Most stops do not turnfatal, he said.
However, onSaturday, Aug. 15, at about 7:53 p.m., two Pasadena police officers initiated atraffic stop on a car occupied by two men for an alleged vehicle violation on RaymondAvenue and Grandview Street. The rapid succession of events led to an officerinvolved shooting, leaving one Black male dead.
During thetraffic stop, one of the passengers “became uncooperative, preventing a searchof his person,” according to police. The passenger ran into the street andallegedly removed a firearm from the waistband of his pants. An officer firedhis weapon twice striking Anthony McClain at least once in the flank of hisbody. McClain continued running as he discarded his firearm into the street.
The ensuinghours saw officers trying to preserve the scene for the initial investigationwhen scores of individuals descended upon La Pintoresca Park where an officer’sbody worn camera caught severely upset and angry citizens, and a threat toknock out a police officer.
Disclaimer: Content warning for the videos below showing violent images and offensive language.
On Mondayafternoon, Pasadena Independent was invited to a press conference along withother local news organizations regarding the incident. The two-hour meetingincluded the viewing of some of the incidents captured on officers’ body worncameras both Saturday and Sunday at the scene.
In the lightof the national attention to police shootings and resulting protests, ChiefPerez said Pasadena police officers exercised considerable restraint in dealingwith the aftermath of the shooting. Officers can clearly be seen standing in asemi-circle as protesters disregard the crime scene tape and verbally assaultmany of the officers on scene.
Aroundmidnight police received several 911 calls of additional disturbances at LaPintoreca Park and more officers were dispatched. People began throwing rocks,and even a peanut butter jar, at officers who subsequently declared thegathering illegal and demanded that people disperse. The crowd continued tothrow projectiles like bottles at the police.
Anotherincident, clearly visible, was when an officer deployed a taser on a suspectwho made some threatening moves and was subsequently arrested.
While thiswas going on, a young boy was hit by pepper spray, the source of which remainsunclear at this time. At some point, the mother of the boy discharged her ownpepper spray at an officer. The woman was not immediately arrested pending theoutcome of the investigation which will likely take months.
As ChiefPerez along with members of his command staff sat with reporters to discuss theevents of the past weekend, the role that misinformation and distrust of policeplayed in the volatile situation was discussed. Rumors surfaced that McClainwas not armed at all and was shot by police multiple times in the back, andthen point-blank once he was on the ground. The video will proveotherwise, Perez said.
Perez saidthese social media claims are unfounded and highly irresponsible — making thepolice investigation more difficult and officers uneasy with the way the publicperceives them.
“This is alocal issue,” Perez said. “The rumor of there being no gun on the individual iscompletely false,” he said. The video tape, Perez said, shows McClain holding aweapon at some point. Perez hopes to release the video of the shooting soon.
Initialreports, again on social media, also said that the victim was shot in the backmultiple times. Perez said this is false. “Two shots were fired by an officer,and one struck Mr. McClain in the ‘flank’ of his body… he fell to the ground.”
The socialand economic impact of a shooting in any city can reverberate for years. Thepolice would not confirm that the victim was a gang member but did say that agang issue exists in Pasadena and felt that this past week tension waspalatable.
Perez saysthe investigations will be numerous including an independent critique of theevents on Saturday. Perez, in his new role as chief, for the past three yearshas initiated an effort for the department to be more transparent, especiallywhen an officer involved shooting takes place and a death occurs as a result.
The officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave. Chief Perez stated that there will be full transparency including four investigations one of which will be a completely independent investigation.
Perez also noted that there is – indeed – a serious problem with weapons in this city and hopes to continue to eliminate those illegal weapons and keep the community as safe as humanly possible.
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