2 Undercover Officers Kill Armed Man

Undercover Los Angeles police officers on a stakeout in Panorama City shot and killed a 22-year-old father of three early Friday after he allegedly approached the officers’ unmarked car, demanded to know why they were in the neighborhood and began to pull a sawed-off shotgun from his waistband, authorities said.

Friends identified the dead man as Simon Velasquez, a former gang member who lived in the 8300 block of Willis Avenue. Police released no identity.

Officer Dana Adams, 33, a nine-year LAPD veteran, and Joe Garcia, 24, an officer for 18 months, shot the man after he allegedly showed them a sawed-off shotgun in his waistband and began pulling it out.

Velasquez, who lived in an apartment building on the street with his girlfriend and young children, told a friend shortly before the 6:20 a.m. shooting that he believed his residence was being watched by someone.

It was later learned that Velasquez was wanted on a felony drug warrant in Las Vegas, police said.

Police said the officers, assigned to the LAPD’s Pacific station, were not staking out Velasquez’s apartment or his building. Rather, they were attempting to track suspects in a Los Angeles International Airport theft operation at daybreak, sources said.

“I’m afraid their operation was blown,” said one police source. “It was a pretty major operation.”

Velasquez “was out on his balcony, and he told me there were a lot of people watching him,” said Raymond Martinez, 20, a neighbor and friend.

Velasquez left his apartment and approached the car to learn the identities of the men, Martinez said. The shotgun Velasquez carried was not functioning but was used only to make threats, Martinez added.

“After speaking briefly to the officers, [Velasquez] pulled back his shirt and revealed the butt of his gun,” said LAPD spokesman Lt. Tony Alba.

“Both officers observed the weapon, identified themselves as police officers, and Officer Garcia ordered the suspect to back away,” a police statement said. “The suspect began to withdraw his weapon, and both officers, in fear of their lives, fired at the suspect.”

“Apparently unaffected” by the officers’ rounds, the man withdrew the shotgun and pointed it at them as they continued to fire, the statement said.

Velasquez’s relatives said he was shot many times, including two or three times in the back while he was running away from police. “They shouldn’t have done this,” said Ruth Castaneda, a cousin. “They could have arrested him but not killed him.”

Police said other officers who were in the area on the same surveillance arrived at the scene soon after the shooting. An internal probe of the shooting was continuing.

In a campaign aimed at preventing rumors, officers went door to door after the shooting to explain the incident to residents. While LAPD officials said this effort is not atypical, they say they are trying to more frequently inform residents when there is unusual police activity in their neighborhoods.

“If we just do our thing, wrap it up and leave, we leave the community with just whatever they’ve heard,” said Assistant Chief Bayan Lewis, who becomes interim chief of the LAPD on Sunday.