CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / COMPTON
A 16-year-old who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy Sunday in Compton was identified Monday as Avery Cody Jr.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Steve Blagg said Cody had a loaded handgun when he was shot by a deputy on routine patrol. But an attorney for Cody’s family said the teen did not brandish a weapon and posed “no threat” to deputies or anyone else.
Attorney John E. Sweeney said Cody and a friend had just finished eating at a nearby McDonald’s when they were stopped by officers in an unmarked vehicle near the intersection of Poinsettia Avenue and Alondra Boulevard in Compton.
The officers “asked them to stop, they complied. They asked them to put their hands on the car, they complied,” Sweeney said.
When officers asked Cody and his friend to pull up their T-shirts, Cody ran for an unknown reason, Sweeney said.
He said Cody ran about 20 feet and an officer shot him in the back. The confrontation occurred around 3:45 p.m.
“This boy posed no threat. He was running away and he was gunned down in the streets of Compton. It’s just a horrible, horrible shooting. I’ve been doing these cases for over 25 years . . . and this is one of the most egregious officer-involved shootings I’ve ever seen,” Sweeney said.
Blagg said that he would not respond to Sweeney’s comments and that the shooting is still under investigation.
-- Nicole Santa Cruz
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