LAPD Officers Were Told a Man Had a Gun and Shot Him. He Had a Cellphone.

I tell you what. I’ve covered a lot of stories in my career but these officer-involved shootings where the “weapon” turns out to be something else entirely – they never get easier to write about.

Heres what happened: LAPD officers responded to a 911 call reporting a man with what appeared to be a weapon. When they arrived, the situation escalated rapidly. Officers opened fire. The man was hit. And when the dust settled? No gun. He was holding a cellphone.

A cellphone.

This isnt an isolated incident – weve seen people have driven into protests over 104 times since George Floyd’s death, and the tensions around policing keep growing. According to a Los Angeles Times review, at least 38 LAPD shootings in the last five years involved someone who ended up being unarmed. Sometimes its a replica gun. Sometimes its a butane lighter shaped like a pistol. Sometimes its literally nothing at all.

The problem is complex. Officers responding to calls are told someone has a weapon. They arrive expecting danger. Split-second decisions get made based on incomplete information and genuine fear. And sometimes those decisions are catastrophically wrong.

I spoke to a use-of-force expert who put it this way: “Actions and context, more than the weapons, dictate what an officer does.” If someone makes a sudden movement, if they appear to reach for something – officers are trained to respond. The training saves lives. It also ends them.

What we need – and what communities across LA have been demanding – is reform in how these situations are approached. De-escalation training. Different tactics for different scenarios. Time and space when its available instead of rushing in. The family is expected to file a lawsuit. These cases often result in settlements – taxpayers footing the bill for tragic errors that never should have happened. But money doesnt bring anyone back. Money doesnt fix systemic problems that keep producing the same outcomes.

I’ll keep reporting on this. Someone has to.