A vigil was held Monday for a 20-year-old alleged gunman who was shot and killed by police at the end of a foot chase in South Los Angeles.
The shooting occurred about 8:35 p.m. Sunday at 60th Place and Western Avenue and the suspect died en route to a hospital, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The gunman's name has not been released by authorities, but activists who organized the vigil at the shooting scene identified him as 20-year-old Ryan Joseph.
Officers from the LAPD's Metro Division tried to stop him after seeing him conceal a weapon in his pocket or waistband, police said.
The suspect fled, leading to a foot chase that ended with an officer shooting when he produced a handgun, according to Officer Aareon Jefferson of the LAPD's Media Relations Section.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, Jefferson said.
Pastor James Perkins insists that's not the Ryan Joseph he or his family knew.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
"This is difficult for me," he said. "I know his momma would have killed him if she knew he had a gun. Ain't no way that he had a gun. No way. No. No."
Organizers say Joseph was a beloved son, brother and a churchgoer.
They're hopeful mourners stay connected to do more than grieve.
"Know that we can hold that police officer accountable for what he did to Ryan," said Rev. Douglas Nelson at the vigil.
Joseph's loved ones tonight believe he didn't deserve to die.
"Not just in this community," Perkins said. "But it happens in many communities, too many times, over and over again."
