Unarmed Man Killed by Policeman in Venice Area

An unarmed 28-year-old man was shot and killed by police in Venice on Wednesday as he tried to elude officers after he allegedly scuffled with one of them, detectives said.

Lt. Charles Higbie, head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s officer-involved shooting team, said Sylvester Henderson, of Los Angeles, was shot by Officer Fritz E. McDowell, 34, after a brief chase in the 400 block of Brooks Avenue. Higbie said McDowell believed that Henderson was armed because he was carrying a paper bag.

The bag, Higbie said, contained clothing, an ice pick and paraphernalia commonly used in cocaine freebasing. But the suspect was not armed.

McDowell, a 14-year veteran of the force, and Officer Debby S. Dresser, 26, approached Henderson and another man at about 6:30 a.m. near 7th and Flower avenues to question them about several robberies and a murder, Higbie said.

During the encounter, Henderson scuffled with Dresser, striking her and pushing her against a dumpster before running away. The second man also escaped while McDowell was calling for assistance, Higbie said.

When McDowell spotted Henderson about half an hour later in the 900 block of 5th Avenue, the officer fired one shot, wounding the man, Higbie said.

Despite the wound, Henderson escaped again and collapsed a short time later in back of a home on Brooks Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The second man, who was not immediately identified, was still being sought.

Dresser suffered an apparent fracture of the left elbow.

The officers had stopped the pair to question them about recent crimes, including a murder that occurred Tuesday morning in the 300 block of Brooks Avenue. In that homicide, two men approached Vincente Gonzalez, a florist, and shot him to death without apparent cause, investigators said.

Higbie said Henderson was approached by the officers after being identified by a robbery victim from mug photographs.