LOS ANGELES _ Los Angeles police shot and killed an armed suspect Saturday in South Los Angeles following the pursuit of what was believed to be a stolen-vehicle, authorities said.
The events leading up to the shooting began about 1:40 p.m., when officers spotted a car with paper plates and tried to stop it, thinking the vehicle may have been stolen, Sgt. Barry Montgomery told reporters at 108th Street and Western Avenue.
When the driver of the vehicle failed to stop, officers began a pursuit, Montgomery said.
A passenger got out of the car near Western and 106th Street, and officers ran after him, Montgomery said. They chased him toward the back of a house on 107th Street, Montgomery said, where police shot him.
Trenell Snell, 17, said she was outside with friends when she saw her older brother, CJ, running from police. Snell started running too, she said. Then she heard gunfire _ "boom, boom, boom, boom."
She hit the ground. When she got up, she said, her brother was on the ground, handcuffed.
"At the end of the day, the cops came and shot my brother," she said. "Killed my brother."
Relatives identified him as Carnell Snell Jr. and said the 18-year-old was killed on the same street where he lived.
Police have not said what exactly happened in the moments before the shooting, citing the early stages of the investigation. Montgomery said a weapon was found at the scene, but did not elaborate.
Dozens of people lingered on the outskirts of yellow police tape near the scene, at one point crashing a police news conference and then later yelling at officers, some of whom had riot helmets hanging from their belts.
"People are fired up and can't take it anymore," one woman said to another.
Snell's mother and other relatives huddled near more police tape on 107th, just down the street from where the 18-year-old was killed. His mother cried as she begged officers to let her past the tape.
"Please, can I see my son?" she said. "I want to see my son."
Officers soon let the family past the police tape to wait at another relative's home.
A woman driving down the street stopped her car near the crowd. "They killed him?" she asked through the open car window.
Her shoulders sank.
