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Protests against fatal LA police shootings ends in rubber bullets, dispersants

Protests against fatal LA police shootings ends in rubber bullets, dispersants
Posted at 8:58 AM, Jun 22, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-22 11:25:35-04

Los Angeles-area protests calling for justice for an 18-year-old man shot and killed by police last week ended Sunday when police reportedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.

Video from Sunday's demonstrations shows police using chemical dispersants and shooting projectiles at protesters in Compton.

One protester told CNN that the confrontation escalated into violence when a demonstrator wouldn't "back down" to police.

KCBS reports that six people were arrested for unlawful assembly, and one person was charged with resisting arrest.

Demonstrators were calling for justice for 18-year-old Andres Guardado, who was shot and killed by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in an alley behind a Los Angeles auto shop on Thursday.

Police say Guardado flashed a gun and then fled as officers chased him. CNN reports that a deputy fired six rounds at Guardado. Investigators say they recovered an unregistered semi-automatic pistol at the scene that included an illegal extended magazine loaded with live rounds.

Guardado's family maintains that he was working as a security guard at the body shop at the time of the shooting, and added that they do not believe he owned a gun. But police officers claim that Guardado was not recognizable as a security guard because he did not have a uniform on and was not wearing a gun belt.

California law also requires that security guards be at least 21 years old.

Capt. Kent Wegener, the head of the department's Homicide Bureau, says investigators have taken six or seven exterior cameras from the scene of Thursday's shooting. It's unclear if any of the footage contains images of the shooting itself.

Guardado's death marked the second fatal shooting by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy in a week.