COMPTON — The killing of 18-year-old Andres Guardado by a sheriff’s deputy in unincorporated West Compton near Gardena June 18 sparked a protest June 21 against law enforcement violence, which turned chaotic when deputies fired pepper balls and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, ultimately making seven arrests.
The update from sheriff’s officials came June 20 after U.S. Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragan, D-Los Angeles, and Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, called upon California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to conduct a full investigation into the shooting.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva pushed back against the idea of an independent investigation at a press conference later in the day, saying the Attorney General’s Office did not have the resources to investigate every shooting.
Homicide Capt. Kent Wegener told reporters that Guardado was talking with someone in a car when two deputies on patrol arrived at 5:52 p.m. June 18 at the Freeway Body Shop, in the 400 block of West Redondo Beach Boulevard, near Figueroa Street.
So far, the investigation has revealed that while Guardado was reportedly working as a security guard at the business, his weapon was an unregistered .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol with a polymer frame and no serial number, a Smith & Wesson slide and prohibited 15-round Glock magazine fully loaded, Wegener said.
