A vigil to remember a slain bicyclist erupted in violence when rocks and bottles were thrown at a Los Angeles Police Department sport utility vehicle Wednesday in South Los Angeles, police said.
Officers and firefighter-paramedics responded to a call for help from another officer near Normandie and Manchester avenues. Aerial video showed several patrol cars, fire trucks and at least one ambulance at the scene.
Police blocked off at least one intersection, where several people on bicycles had gathered to honor the memory of 22-year-old Frederick Frazer, who was killed Tuesday in a hit-and-run crash. The young bicyclist was affectionately nicknamed Woon.
Frazer's mother, Beverly Owens, denounced the violence that occurred at her son's vigil and reminded mourners of why they were there in the first place.
"Woon was positive and you're all repping Woon. Slashing police tires and busting police windows ain't repping woon," Owens said. "We need police to help us get these people who killed my baby!"
One person was struck by a hit-and-run driver during the street closures. Quatrell Jamar Stallings, 25, suffered a broken leg and a cut to his head during the confrontation. He is expected to recover.
Mourners expressed their surprise at the violence.
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"I didn't expect nothing like this to happen," Keiven Munoz, a friend of Frazer, said. "We were just supposed to ride our bikes to show our respects. Out of nowhere, things took a different route."
