Los Angeles Police Department shoots unarmed, mentally ill man

By Isabelle Chapman

As the Ferguson community outside St. Louis continues to press for answers over the death of Michael Brown, another unarmed black man was shot and killed by the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Ezell Ford was walking in south Los Angeles near his home Monday evening, when the LAPD's Newton Division carried out 'an investigative stop.' According to a LAPD news release, a struggle ensued, and an officer shot Ford. He was then transported to a local hospital before he died.

His mother, Tritobia Ford, told KTLA that her son was 'mentally challenged.' The Detroit Free Press reports that his mother said Ford was on the ground, and cooperating with police officers when he was shot three times. A man who claimed to be Ford's cousin told KTLA that the police shot the 24-year-old in the back.

'My son was a good kid,' Ford's mother told KTLA. 'He didn't deserve to die the way he did.'

This comes in the wake of several racially charged shootings over the past few years. Perhaps the most publicized was the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, and also the murder of Renisha McBride, outside of Detroit.

According to the LAPD's news release, there will be an investigation of the incident involving the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and the Board of Police Commissioners. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Justice System Integrity Division will also review the facts involved in this particular shooting.