A man died Friday night after Hawthorne police officers shot him inside The Coach's Sports Bar and Grill, where officers had been called to reports of a person with a gun. Police say the man never fired a weapon, and that no officers or anyone else inside the bar was hurt. His identity has not been released.
Officers responded to the bar on South Inglewood Avenue after 911 callers reported a person inside with a firearm, according to NBC Los Angeles. Once inside, police say they encountered an armed man they believed matched the description from the call and shot him multiple times. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died of his injuries, the station reports. Accounts of exactly when the confrontation unfolded have varied: City News Service places the incident at about 8:35 p.m., while CBS News Los Angeles reports officers were called around 9:30 p.m.; NBC Los Angeles has cited calls coming in before 8:45 p.m.
Bar Patrons Unharmed as Police Say Man Did Not Shoot
Officials emphasized that the man did not fire any shots during the encounter, and that no officers or other people inside The Coach's Sports Bar and Grill were injured, per the same NBC Los Angeles report. City News Service places the shooting at 13708 S. Inglewood Ave. Hawthorne police have not released additional details about what led up to the confrontation, and the man's name remained unreleased as of Saturday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department assumed the investigation at the request of Hawthorne officers, according to CBS News Los Angeles. The station notes that the department's Homicide Bureau was expected to take the lead role going forward, a standard step when an outside agency reviews an officer-involved shooting. The investigation remains ongoing, and no further findings have been made public.
Another Shooting at the Same Stretch of Inglewood Avenue
The shooting adds to a troubling run of gun violence along the same commercial strip. One person was killed in a drive-by shooting at The Greatest, another bar in the 13700 block of South Inglewood Avenue, according to CBS News Los Angeles. Family members in that case identified the victim as 35-year-old Anthony Jackson Jr., and a 43-year-old man, Daniel Dennis, was arrested in connection with the shooting, the outlet reported.
Past police shootings involving Hawthorne officers have drawn separate legal scrutiny from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, though those cases are unrelated to Friday's incident. In one DA review, investigators determined that officers acted in lawful self-defense and defense of others in a shooting involving Nonyere Ofoegbu, according to records from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. That office also previously reviewed the fatal shooting of Robert Washington involving Hawthorne police, detailed in a separate report from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Neither record addresses or determines anything about Friday's shooting at The Coach's Sports Bar and Grill.
As of Saturday, investigators had not released the man's name, a precise timeline, or any account of what unfolded before officers opened fire. The Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau investigation continues, and officials have not indicated when further details might be made public.
