LAPD officer involved in previous shootings: report

The story on the Los Angeles Times website came as hundreds of people returned to the streets for a third night of protests over the fatal shooting of Manuel Jamines, 37, sporadically throwing rocks and bottles at officers and setting scattered rubbish fires.

Earlier Wednesday evening, Chief Charlie Beck faced an angry crowd at a community meeting intended to quell the violence.

Citing police officials and records, the Times said that Officer Frank Hernandez, a 13-year department veteran, shot a female robbery victim in 1999 when the woman allegedly pointed a handgun at Hernandez and his partner and refused orders to drop the woman. Her injury was not life-threatening.

ln 2008, the Times reported Hernandez shot an 18-year-old assault suspect who tried to flee, then pointed a gun at Hernandez and another officer. Hernandez shot the man once, wounding him.

Police Chief Charlie Beck voiced support for Hernandez in an interview with the Times. Citing privacy laws, Beck would not discuss the past shootings or any details of Hernandez's personnel file. He told the Times that Hernandez's performance should not come under suspicion because of previous shootings.

Det. Gus Villanueva said he had no immediate comment when reached by The Associated Press early Thursday.

At the community meeting, a crowd of more than 300 packed a school in the Westlake neighborhood where Jamines was shot to death Sunday by Hernandez after he allegedly lunged toward the officer with a switchblade.

The crowd jeered Beck when he defended officers by reading a witness's account of how Jamines threatened her.

Beck said the witness, a neighborhood resident who was not named, told three bicycle officers that a man with blood on his hands tried to stab her and pregnant woman next to her.

As the woman ran away, she heard the three officers telling the suspect to drop the knife, then she heard three or four shots, turned around and saw Jamines on the sidewalk, Beck said.

“She referred to the officers as her angels who had descended from heaven to save her life and that of the pregnant lady,” Beck said.

The crowd exploded when they heard the witness's account. One man in the audience called out that the story sounded like it was made up in Hollywood.

Beck and city officials scheduled the meeting to counter rumors and reach out to residents of the central Los Angeles neighborhood where Jamines was shot.

Sunday's killing turned into a rallying point as community members, aided by outsiders, took to the streets three consecutive nights and used the death to highlight past injustices and vent ongoing frustrations.

Police have defended the killing and said they've been taken aback by the high emotions following what looked like a clear-cut case of justifiable use of force. Each year, the LAPD is involved in up to about 40 shootings; those that typically cause controversy involve unarmed or surrendered suspects.

Residents outraged over the killing have said the top brass should have handled the situation differently and say department officials' surprise shows the agency is out of touch with the people.

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