Sheriff’s deputy fatally shoots fleeing man, 18, near Gardena who authorities say was armed

 In blog, Crime News: Los Angeles Daily News

Sheriff’s deputy fatally shoots fleeing man, 18, near Gardena who authorities say was armed

by Nathaniel Percy

An 18-year-old Los Angeles man was shot and killed by at least one sheriff’s deputy near an auto body shop just east of Gardena on Thursday, June 18, authorities said.

He died at the scene shortly after deputies arrived and allegedly saw him brandishing a firearm in the 400 block of West Redondo Beach Boulevard, in unincorporated Los Angeles County, shortly before 6 p.m., said Deputy James Nagao, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Coroner’s officials identified the man as Andres Guardado Pineda.

Guardado had allegedly run southbound between two businesses, Nagao said. After a short foot pursuit, the deputies came in contact with Pineda and at least one shot him in the upper torso.

It was unclear what led the deputy or deputies to fire at Guardado.

A handgun was found at the scene, Nagao said, adding that no deputy was injured.

Andrew Haney, 34, works at Bow Down Performance in the commercial-strip building and said Guardado was a regular at the shop for about six months and would stop by after working shifts as a security guard for a housing community.

Guardado was not a formal employee of the shop, which specializes in building race cars, but would keep watch for potential taggers, Haney said. Guardado would also help out with customers’ cars and was paid for his help.

“He was there more because of the friendship and to learn (about cars),” Haney said. “He wasn’t (our) formal security guard, but he felt the right thing to do was to keep an eye out in the front and if he saw someone tagging, he would stop them.”

Haney said he didn’t believe Guardado had any criminal history. He said he believed Guardado ran because he was scared.

Haney wasn’t sure if Guardado was wearing his uniform from his security job when deputies arrived.

“I’ve never known him to carry a gun and had he had a gun, he wouldn’t have taken it out and pointed it at an officer,” Haney said.

The shooting occurred in front of another body shop toward the back of the building, Haney said.

The security cameras were not working at the time of the shooting, because deputies had retrieved recording devices concerning another incident recently, ABC7 reported.

Haney arrived to work Friday and said he saw that 12 security cameras around the building had been broken overnight.

Investigations by the Sheriff’s Homicide and Internal Affairs bureaus were ongoing.

All credit goes to Nathaniel Percy Originally published on https://www.dailynews.com

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