TMZ.com
The LAPD officer who fired the fatal rounds in the Burlington Coat Factory shooting, killing the suspect and an innocent bystander, looked like he went rogue … so says a retired cop.
Timothy Williams Jr., an expert on the use of force in policing and a retired LAPD detective supervisor, joined us Tuesday on “TMZ Live” and he broke down the police body cam footage in the fatal shooting … and it’s his opinion the shots were not justified.
The first thing that jumped out to Timothy … the cop with the AR-15 appearing to act separately from the rest of the cops and gun down the suspect, even though other police in the group had less-lethal weapons.
Remember … the suspect was wielding a bike lock and chain, bloodying a shopper and injuring others before cops arrived … and Timothy says the use of force was warranted in this situation, but he thinks police didn’t need to use lethal force and fire an assault rifle.
As you know … the bullets from the AR-15 killed the suspect, as well as a 14-year-old girl who was cowering in the background in a dressing room. The walls in these kinds of stores are usually paper-thin, and the L.A. County Medical Examiner says a bullet struck her in the chest and killed her.
Timothy tells us why the cops should have stayed away from lethal rounds in this setting … and why it’s important for cops to work together and not fly solo.
