Family members of a 38-year-old man in the throes of a mental health crisis, who called 911 himself and was later shot dead by police on the steps of a Long Beach church in a gunbattle that left one officer injured, are demanding justice.
The deadly Nov. 19 shootout unfolded in the area of Atlantic Avenue and 52nd Street where officers and SWAT teams with the Long Beach Police Department responded to reports of a “man with a gun” just after 3 p.m.
The suspect, Brandon Boyd, a father of six, was declared dead at the scene.
“After approximately two and a half hours of de-escalation attempts, the suspect and officers both discharged their firearms,” LBPD said after the incident. “An officer sustained a gunshot wound to the arm. The suspect sustained gunshot wounds.”
“Brandon had his hands up and wasn’t posing any threat as multiple eyewitnesses have confirmed,” his sister, Tiffany Boyd, said at a Tuesday news conference. “He was peaceful and in need of help.”
Tiffany and her extended family contend that Brandon was unjustly killed, saying he called 911 from the steps of his childhood house of worship, Iglesia del Cristo Miel Church, while having a mental health crisis.