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California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office has opened an investigation into the deadly shooting of a 53-year-old man by Los Angeles police officers in Pico-Union in July.
Police officers shot Samuel Soto on July 26 and he died from his wounds on Nov. 21. Pursuant to a new law, Assembly Bill 1506, an investigation into the shooting was opened on Wednesday and an independent review will follow.
Police say Soto was holding a knife and initially shot by officers who arrived on the scene. Those officers reportedly took the knife, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, and Soto was shot again by newly arriving police officers on the scene. In body camera video from the shooting, it appears Soto is holding a cell phone.
Bonta’s office is afforded the power to investigate police shootings under a new state law that went into effect July 1. The Soto shooting is the second investigation Bonta’s office has initiated involving LAPD officers.
The other investigation involves the fatal shooting of Matthew Sova, 48, by police officers on Hollywood Boulevard in July.
Bonta’s office has launched five other investigations into shootings by agencies in the state, according to the Times report.
The Los Angeles Police Department and the Attorney General’s office are investigating the Soto shooting. Once the investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the California Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Section of the Criminal Law Division for independent review.
