Pasadena's police chief is inviting the FBI to investigate the death of a college student who was shot and killed by officers last month.
Chief Phillip Sanchez says the FBI would add another independent review to the investigation of 19-year-old Kendrec McDade's March 24 death.
Sanchez's invitation comes days after McDade's parents sued police, saying his death was part of a pattern of Pasadena police killing black people.
Officers say a 911 caller led them to believe McDade was an armed robbery suspect when they opened fire. He was unarmed.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says the bureau is investigating to determine whether a violation of federal civil rights was a factor.
Eimiller says the FBI routinely assesses incidents where questions of civil rights violations are raised.
Pasadena police are already subjecting themselves to outside scrutiny, beginning the probe Thursday when police and city officials met with third-party investigators.
Chief Sanchez and City Manager Michael Beck met with officials from the L.A. County Office of Independent Review, who said they want a thorough investigation into the fatal shooting that has sparked community outrage.
“Everything raised publicly or will be raised in the future are things that we’ll be looking at,” said Michael Gennaco, with the Office of Independent Review. “We’re going to do a top to bottom analysis of the incident."
“It’s important for the public to eventually learn the whole story, " Gennaco said.
The 911 caller, Oscar Carrillo-Gonzalez, later admitted that he lied about the gun. Carrillo-Gonzalez was booked for involuntary manslaughter, but the District Attorney declined to press charges. He is now being monitored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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While the 911 caller’s arrest appeared to be unprecedented, the hazy reports that surround the deadly incident, which had no witnesses and was not recorded, are not as unusual.
“Wrong or misunderstood facts or mistakes are not that unusual in critical incidents where there’s a great deal of urgency,” said Robert Miller with the Office of Independent Review. “So, this is not completely unknown territory for us.”
The officers involved in the shooting – identified as Jeffery Newlen and Matthew Griffin – are on paid administrative leave during the investigation.
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