A man was shot and killed by San Fernando police officers late Monday night after they responded to reports of a man wielding a shovel and attacking people near Third Street and Maclay Avenue. The California Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has deployed its California Police Shooting Investigation Team to independently review the shooting, a step required under state law whenever an officer-involved shooting kills an unarmed civilian or meets other specific criteria.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the man died following the encounter, though few additional details about him have been released. The confrontation happened around 11:45 p.m. Monday in the 200 block of North Maclay Avenue near Third Street, according to MyNewsLA, after officers were called to reports that the man was attacking people, including a woman inside a vehicle, before he advanced on officers wielding a shovel. Interim Police Chief Anthony Miranda relayed those details about the encounter, per the same outlet.
State Investigators Take Over the Case
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office confirmed the deployment of the state’s shooting investigation team, which independently examines officer-involved shootings under Assembly Bill 1506. The law, enacted in 2020 and effective since July 2021, requires the state Attorney General to independently investigate and review all officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian. Lawmakers designed the statute to eliminate potential conflicts of interest that can arise when local police and district attorneys investigate their own force, as CapRadio has reported.
Investigators will have to weigh whether the shovel the man was allegedly wielding meets the threshold for a deadly weapon, and whether the shooting satisfied California’s use-of-force standard. Under Assembly Bill 392, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019, officers are legally barred from using deadly force unless it is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury, and the law requires de-escalation tactics and non-lethal alternatives whenever feasible.
A Department in Transition
The shooting comes just weeks into interim Chief Miranda’s tenure leading the San Fernando Police Department. He was appointed on August 4 to oversee the agency during what the city has said is a four-to-six-month search for a permanent chief, following former Chief Fabian Valdez’s retirement, according to the City of San Fernando. Miranda brings more than 35 years of Los Angeles County law enforcement experience, including previous chief roles in Bell, Irwindale and Vernon, a transition Hoodline covered in its report on his appointment…