18 year old Carnell “CJ” Snell Jr. was shot and killed Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles. Around 1 p.m. LAPD says officers spotted paper plates on a vehicle that they believed may have been stolen. According to the officers, when they attempted to stop the vehicle the driver failed to stop. When the car did come to a stop, officers say two people, one of which was Snell, jumped out of the vehicle and began to run. Snell and the other passenger ran in opposite directions while police followed in pursuit. One of the officers chased Snell to the back of a home where witnesses say he was shot and killed by the officer.


During a press conference Sgt. Barry Montgomery detailed the events that took place leading up to the shooting.




Monique Morgan, Snell’s mother, told reporters police shot her son at least five times. Witnesses say the teen’s back was turned and his hands were in the air when the officer fired. The name of the officer who killed Snell has yet to be released. Police say a gun was recovered at the scene however, the exact cause as to why the officer fired has not been announced. The DA is investigating.





Although a statement was released , LAPD has provided limited details on what took place.




The lack of information and transparency rings all too well as protestors denounced these types of shootings that have become the norm.





Most recently, police in Charlotte, NC were criticized for the handling of Keith Lamont Scott’s shooting death by an officer. The same week, a Tulsa, OK officer was charged with shooting and killing Terrence Crutcher, as video showed his hands in the air.


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