Man Killed by Police Is Identified
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has identified the man killed by police Thursday night as Robert Anthony Burns, 21, of Canoga Park.
Police said the confrontation began about 8 p.m. at a Shell gasoline station in the 9600 block of DeSoto Avenue when an undercover surveillance team cornered a car carrying four suspected purse snatchers.
Burns, the driver, allegedly resisted arrest and started ramming his vehicle into a police car, injuring an officer who was knocked to the ground, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. To protect the fallen officer, another officer fired two rounds at Burns, killing him.
In a similar incident at roughly the same time in Wilmington, LAPD officers shot and killed another criminal suspect after he allegedly started driving a van at officers who were on foot.
The shootings marked the 14th and 15th times that suspects have been killed by on-duty LAPD officers this year. The LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division is investigating both cases.
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