Man Killed by Deputies Was Mentally Ill

A 29-year-old Bellflower man fatally shot this week by deputies was a mentally ill patient whom officers had taken to the hospital for treatment several times, family members said.

It’s the third confrontation between officers of various law enforcement agencies and allegedly knife-wielding suspects since last Friday. All followed domestic disturbance calls and resulted in officer-involved shootings.

In Tuesday’s case, Ricardo Esparza was shot multiple times by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at his home in the 9800 block of Walnut Street.

Authorities said Esparza was threatening the officers with a butcher knife.

Esparza’s mother, Margarita Palafox, said she had called police on at least three other occasions over two years when her son--who she said suffered from depression and heard voices--refused to take his medication and became aggressive.

On those occasions, however, she said the officers had persuaded Esparza--who did not speak English--to go with them to a hospital.

Palafox said she expected the same to occur this time.

“I trusted them,” she said. “How was I going to know that this was going to happen?”

Though it is not clear whether any of the officers had been at the home before, they knew that the person with whom they would deal had mental problems, said Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Rosenberg.

He said a Spanish-speaking officer was sent to the Esparzas’ home.

Rosenberg said officers first used nonlethal beanbags and rubber bullets against an uncooperative Esparza and fired lethal ammunition only when Esparza threatened the officers.

“This is a tragic situation,” he said, “but when deputies are put in a situation like this . . . they tried to stop it but the guy came after them after they tried to negotiate and use less-than-lethal force.

“If we go someplace and we assess that the patient has mental problems, we can take the person to a mental facility,” said Rosenberg. “Unfortunately, in this case, the person became assaultive.”

Palafox said she went to a neighbor’s house to call deputies after Esparza became verbally abusive.

When the officers arrived, Palafox said she explained Esparza’s mental condition and said she wanted them to take him to the hospital. She pointed the officers to the right apartment and remained at a distance.

Neighbors peering through their windows said they could see Esparza holding a pan in one hand.

Some said what Esparza had in the other hand a butter knife but no one interviewed by reporters got a clear look at the object and one could only describe it as “something shiny.”

Neighbors said they heard up to a dozen shots.

Relatives said Esparza had moved from Mexico at age 15 and had worked at odd jobs since. Esparza was a friend to many in the complex who were aware of his mental problems, neighbors said.

“He used to come and clean. He helped me paint my house,” said Eddie Perez, the complex manager. “He was not violent at all.”

“I’m kind of stressed about this. I lost a friend [because] of their mistake.”

The other shootings included an incident last Friday in which Alhambra police shot and critically injured a teenager after he allegedly lunged at them with a knife. The 16-year-old boy’s father had called police, saying his son was suicidal, authorities said.

Sheriff officials contacted on Thursday said that they did not have an update on the teenager’s condition.

On Sunday, a man was shot and killed by Gardena police officers after he allegedly charged at them with a knife. Police had been sent to a home in the 13300 block of Purche Avenue to investigate a family disturbance. Police say they were met at the door by Joseph Evans, who was armed with a large knife. Evans then barricaded himself, police said. Concerned about his safety, police forced their way into the home. Evans ran out of the home with the knife, police said.

Officers used stun bag rounds and a Taser gun to try to stop him, but Evans kept charging forward and police officers, in fear for their lives, fired at him, police said. The 59-year-old man died at a hospital.

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Staff writer Hector Becerra contributed to this story.