An armed man shot and wounded by Los Angeles police in Harbor City last month had emerged from a backyard shed and held a gun to his head then approached two officers before one fired his service weapon, recently released video by the LAPD shows.
Samuel Conde, 27, of Los Angeles was taken into custody following a lengthy standoff in the 25700 block of Belle Porte Avenue on Feb. 11. During the standoff, Conde repeatedly refused officers’ commands to drop the gun, put his hands up and surrender.
In addition to being wounded by gunfire, police also used gas, a Taser, a beanbag shotgun and a K-9 to take Conde into custody, the video shows.
He had been wanted for disturbing the peace after a witness called police to report a man who appeared to be armed with a gun in the area of Western Avenue and Lomita Boulevard, police said.
Officers spotted him with the handgun walking east on 254th Street from Belle Porte Avenue. Officers gave chase on foot until he entered the backyard.
Conde ultimately holed up in a shed in the backyard, littered with debris and overgrown foliage.
SWAT and K-9 units arrived. An officer attempted to talk to Conde through a loudspeaker, at one point saying, “We don’t want to make this bad day worse, so just cooperate.”
Eventually Conde emerged, holding the gun to his head while telling the officers that his daughter’s birthday is next month, that he messed up, and that he didn’t want to go back to jail.
Conde told the officers he would kill himself if they didn’t back up.
Conde began moving around in the backyard with the gun still out when he happened upon two officers on the other side of the yard, who spotted him through foliage.
He had the gun in his hand, and one officer fired three shots and hit him. It was unclear, based on the body-worn video, whether Conde pointed the firearm at the officers before the shooting.
“Why are you guys shooting at me?” Conde said through expletives. “I didn’t even shoot!”
Still, Conde refused to cooperate, at one point sitting on a wall and later putting his hands up while standing in a front yard — but not fully cooperating with officers who then used the gas, the beanbag shotgun, the Taser and the K9 unit to take him into custody.
His face was bloodied as was his left leg, the video shows.
Conde did not fire shots at the officers and where he was struck by gunfire was unclear. Conde was hospitalized and taken into custody.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of exhibiting a firearm in the presence of a peace officer and one count of felon in possession of a firearm.
Conde has felony convictions for robbery, vandalism and burglary, court records show.