Ezell Ford was a 25-year-old African-American man who was shot and killed by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in Florence, Los Angeles, California on August 11, 2014. The officers and eyewitnesses offered competing accounts of the events surrounding the shooting. An investigation by the LAPD's watchdog unit, Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, concluded in June 2015 that one officer had been justified in the shooting while the other had been unjustified, had acted outside of LAPD policy, and had violated Ford's civil rights by detaining him.
In the weeks and months that followed, Ford's shooting triggered multiple demonstrations and a lawsuit by Ford's family that sought $75 million in damages.
Backgrounds
Ezell Ford Ezell Earl Ford (October 14, 1988August 11, 2014) was the oldest of seven children. At the time of his birth his parents, Tritobia and Edsell, were 16 and 17 years old respectively. His parents said in August 2014 they had been living in the same neighborhood for 15 years. Ford attended 66th Street Elementary, Marcus Garvey Elementary, Bethune Middle School, and Verbum Dei High School, which he left before completing a full term. As a child he played basketball, and wanted to play professionally and to study medicine. In his youth Ford suffered from asthma and difficulty breathing.
In September 2007 Ford was arrested on felony charges of carrying a loaded firearm and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. He argued the marijuana was for personal use, and in January 2008 the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, for which he paid a small fine. He pleaded guilty to the firearm charge and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. In 2008 Ford was shot in the leg in a gang-related incident. A neighbor said that Ford was an innocent bystander in the shooting, and that his mental illness became more evident from then on. Ford also had a prior conviction for trespassing.
After his death his parents said their son had been diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and that everybody in the neighborhood, as well as police, were aware of this. They recalled that Ford had become more introverted and melancholy around the age of 18, and took medication that made him less active.
Ashanti Harrison, a neighbor, said he had grown up with Ford, who "did not bother nobody. He was kind of slow. The whole neighborhood took care of him." Harrison also described Ford as having "the mental capacity of an 8-year-old", while another neighbor said "He had a mind of a 10-year-old". Another neighbor said while Ford "wasn't all there, he was there enough to follow orders and know to stop when the police tell him to stop." Leroy Hill, who described himself as an eyewitness to the shooting, and Harrison both said Ford was not involved in gangs. A neighbor said the officers who shot Ford had harassed him in the past, including the day before the shooting.
Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas The officers involved in the shooting were named on August 28 as Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas, both gang enforcement officers in the LAPD's Newton Division. Wampler had been on the force for twelve years, Villegas for eight. Wampler is Asian American and Villegas is Latino. The two men had been working together in the Newton Division for five months.
Wampler had previously arrested Ford on marijuana possession charges in 2008. He was also one of two officers accused in a 2011 lawsuit of assaulting and pepper spraying members of a South Los Angeles family in 2009. A settlement was reached in the case in 2012 but details were not disclosed in court records.
Shooting
LAPD accounts According to LAPD commander Andy Smith, officers Wampler and Villegas saw Ford walking on the sidewalk at 65th Street and left their vehicle. Wampler said he knew Ford but did not recognize him at the time. The two officers confronted Ford as part of an "investigative stop" at around 8:20p.m. They told investigators that though they carried a Taser in the patrol car, neither took it out, and Villegas instead drew his gun. Villegas said he believed Ford may have been armed because he was in "a gang area". Villegas soon put the gun away and repositioned himself as the "cover" officer while Wampler approached Ford. After the release of Ford's autopsy, LAPD chief Charlie Beck said Ford walked away after Wampler and Villegas left their vehicle to speak to him. An earlier press release said Ford looked towards the officers but kept walking and "made suspicious movements, including attempting to conceal his hands". According to Beck, Wampler and Villegas told detectives Ford concealed his hands as they attempted to stop him. According to Beck's account the officers then followed Ford to a driveway where he crouched between a car and some bushes. Wampler and Villegas said they believed Ford was trying to dispose of drugs that were in his possession, which Wampler felt was sufficient evidence to arrest him. No drugs were found in the vicinity, however. Smith said Ford had been unarmed.
Smith said as they were walking towards him Ford "whirled around and basically attacked the lead officer". Wampler told investigators he had approached Ford from behind and pulled back his shoulder with the intention of handcuffing him. The officers and an LAPD spokesman said that Ford had "tackled" one of the officers and that a struggle ensued after Ford tried to remove the officer's handgun from its holster. Smith said Ford "grabbed the officer around the waist, threw him to the ground and was laying on top of the officer" when he was shot. In Beck's account, Wampler and Villegas told investigators that Ford had been on top of one of the officers and reaching for the officer's gun when they both opened fire. Wampler told investigators he had been tackled by Ford and had landed on top of Ford, but Ford rolled over immediately and took the top position. Villegas responded by pushing his knee into Ford's back and attempting to handcuff him. Wampler said he then felt Ford grasping at his holstered pistol. Villegas said he feared for his life and that of his partner and shot Ford in the arm, then at Wampler's urging fired a second round into Ford's side. Wampler said Ford continued to resist, causing him to retrieve his backup gun and used it to reach around Ford and shoot him in the back.
After the shooting, Wampler handcuffed Ford. Wampler told investigators a crowd appeared, including one man who appeared angry but left after Wampler pointed his gun at him. Thirteen seconds elapsed from the time that Wampler and Villegas left their vehicle to the first shot. LAPD lieutenant Ellis Imaizumi said the officers sustained minor abrasions that did not require hospitalization. An LAPD news release said neither had been injured.
Other accounts Two witnesses disputed the officers' claim that Ford had concealed his hands, and said that he had raised his hands as the officers left their vehicle. They also said that Ford did not tackle an officer, and was instead tackled to the ground by one of the officers. Tritobia Ford said her son was lying on the ground and complying with officers' orders when he was shot. Other family members supported her account, including a man who identified himself as Ford's cousin and said: They laid him out and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back, knowing mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area, from the Newton Division, knows that — that this child has mental problems. The excessive force ... there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he's laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don't try to console her ... they pull the billy clubs out.
Ashanti Harrison, who said he saw the shooting from a second-story window, said Ford had put his hands in the air when he was tackled to the ground and shot three times. Harrison said that while on the ground, Ford "was struggling like he didn't want anyone on top of him, didn't want anyone holding him down". Two women who were in the home adjacent to the driveway said Ford had not been on top of one of the officers, and had instead been face-down with the officer on top of him. Dorene Henderson, a friend of the Ford family, said she heard someone yell "Get down, get down." She said she heard a pop and neighbors telling officers "He's got mental problems." Leroy Hill said: "I was sitting across the street when it happened ... The cops jumped out of the car and rushed him over here into this corner. They had him in the corner and were beating him, busted him up, for what reason I don't know he didn't do nothing." Hill said he heard an officer say "Shoot him", followed by three gunshots, while Ford was on the ground. Ina Smalls, who lives across the street from Ford, said she ran outside after hearing gunshots and saw Ford "on the ground, shot dead, handcuffed on his stomach". Smalls said she did not believe that Ford had tried to take the officer's gun. Fred Sayre, Ford's parents' attorney, said none of the witnesses he had spoken to could decisively say whether Ford grabbed for the officer's gun.
Events immediately following the shooting Ford was taken to California Hospital Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and was pronounced dead at 10:10p.m. Tritobia Ford said police had refused to inform her where her son was hospitalized. Police initially offered little information about the shooting and did not initially release Ford's name or specify why they stopped him. Imaizumi said police had declined to release information due to a "gathering" at the scene.
Investigations
Initial response Both officers were placed on paid leave. In the aftermath of the shooting, and in response to threats on social media, the LAPD directed all officers to travel in pairs. Hutchinson and other civil rights leaders met with LAPD officials on August 14. Hutchinson said he was reassured by the meeting and believed the LAPD was taking the concerns seriously, and that it would fast-track the investigation while ensuring transparency. The activists who attended the meeting stressed that they did not want to see in Los Angeles rioting similar to that seen in Ferguson or in L.A. in 1992.
LAPD officials named Wampler and Villegas as the shooters on August 28. Wampler's name had been leaked the previous day by blogger Jasmyne Cannick. In a statement, the department commented "it was necessary to investigate evidence ... regarding potential threats to the safety of the officers and ensure that measures were taken to mitigate those threats." Both officers remained on paid administrative leave. In December 2014, a department spokesman said both officers had been reassigned to administrative duties.
In August 2014, Paysinger said the LAPD would investigate the shooting with oversight by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, its Office of Inspector General, and the office of the Los Angeles District Attorney. On August 18, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said he would ensure a "full and fair investigation" took place.
Autopsy On August 18, the LAPD placed a "security hold" on the release of the report of Ford's autopsy. Smith said the hold was due to the risk that the autopsy's findings would affect witnesses' testimonies, but Hutchinson said it would fuel "suspicions about the LAPD's version of the Ford killing".
In October 2014, the South Central Neighborhood Council passed a resolution calling on Los Angeles City Council member Curren Price to direct the LAPD to release Ford's autopsy report. A spokesman said the LAPD was reluctant to release information that could adversely affect ongoing investigations, and that the department had seen little success in finding witnesses. On November 13, Garcetti said the report would be made public by the end of 2014.