Police use tear gas, rubber bullets on Compton protesters

Family members of Andres Guardado gathered in Gardena, California on Sunday to call for justice in the police killing of the 18-year-old man. The family was joined by residents who walked over three-and-a-half miles to Compton where they were met with force by police officers.

During the protest, Compton police fired rubber bullets and deployed tear gas against protesters.

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According to reports, police told the crowd to get back. However, as they drew back from the steps of the sheriffs’ office, police fired upon them. Multiple people were also arrested.

Guardado was shot and killed on Thursday, June 18 by a Los Angeles County Sheriff Deputy. According to a CNN report, the man was approached by deputies while standing outside of a business. LA County Sheriff Homicide captain, Kent Wegener, said in a news conference that Guardado “reportedly looked toward the deputies” and “produced a handgun.”

Wegener said that Guardado then ran from deputies toward the rear of the business. It was there that one deputy fired six shots. The man was struck in the upper torso and pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers were not wearing body cameras.

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Protesters have insisted that Guardado was working as a security guard at the business where he was killed. However, police investigators found that he did not have a license through the California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Further, at only 18-years-old, he was under the legal age to be an armed security guard in the state of California.

An autopsy of Guardado’s body is being conducted by LA County. On Sunday, his cousin Celina Abarca told CNN that he was just “a baby,” she said that the death doesn’t feel real to her, “I close my eyes and I hope and I pray that it’s not really happening.”

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