AN ARMED security guard was shot and killed by Los Angeles police after running from the officers ‘because he was scared’.
Andres Guardado, 18, was working Thursday evening outside an autobody shop in Gardena, where he was hired to protect it from graffiti taggers.
Guardado saw officers patrolling the area and flashed his gun before running away, Daily Mail reported.
The officers saw the 18-year-old “produce a handgun” and flee, prompting a chase before at least one deputy fired a shot, killing Guardado at around 6pm.
The victim’s boss and owner of the autobody shop, Andrew Heney, told local CBS affiliate, CBSLA, that there was no reason to kill him and that he had a completely clean background.
“The police came up, and they pulled their guns on him and he ran because he was scared, and they shot and killed him,” Heney said.
According to Daily Mail, Guardado was not believed to be wearing a security guard uniform at the time and a gun was recovered at the scene.
On Thursday night, family and friends confronted the deputies, some believing that Guardado was unarmed.
“I lost a part of me, it’s empty, and I’m never gonna have him back,” his sister told reporters. “I’m never gonna see him, he’s never gonna talk to me, I’m just, I can’t, I just can’t believe this happened to my brother. It really hurts me.”
