Earlier today, in the streets of Inglewood, California, a police fatally shot a mentally ill man who was reportedly armed with a knife. This distressing incident has once again raised questions about law enforcement's use of force and their ability to mitigate dangerous situations involving those with mental health challenges.
According to an ABC7 report, 33-year-old Ivan Solis Mora was shot and killed by Inglewood police near Grevillea Avenue around 1 p.m. Mora, who had schizophrenia, was allegedly armed with a knife and charged at the officers, leading them to open fire. As reported by NBC Los Angeles, witnesses heard the gunshots around 1 p.m. on South Grevillea Avenue and saw the police confront Mora.
According to Mora's family, Ivan was living with his parents and grandmother in a rear residence at the scene of the shooting. They were not at home during the tragic event. The Inglewood Police Department stated that they initially tried using less-than-lethal force before resorting to firing their guns. A neighbor told NBC Los Angeles that he spoke with officers when they arrived and informed them that Mora was "not doing OK." Officers attempted to calm Mora down and used a Taser on him twice, and fired beanbag rounds, but ultimately killed him when these measures proved insufficient.
CBS News Los Angeles confirmed that the officers had tried de-escalating the situation using various less-than-lethal methods such as pepper balls, tasers, and rubber impact rounds. However, when these methods failed to curtail Mora's erratic behavior, lethal force was employed as "a final resort to protect the officers and others from injury," according to a statement by the Inglewood Police Department. An officer, injured in a fight with the suspect, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
