Reply #35: The shootings in the article are the least of Inglewood PDs problems.

[ellisonz]

Inglewood residents demand change after shootings
Posted 7/23/2008 6:42 AM

By Thomas Watkins, Associated Press Writer
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Friends and relatives of Kevin Wicks didn't accept the official explanation of why police fatally shot him when they were called to his apartment building.

Now they question why the officer who pulled the trigger was even there in the first place -- just two months after being involved in another fatal shooting.

Officer Brian Ragan, a five-year veteran of the Inglewood Police Department, was placed on leave for the second time in 10 weeks after shooting Wicks early Monday. Those who knew the 38-year-old Wicks said he was a kind, gentle man who never had a problem with police, and they called for a federal probe into his death.

Ragan is still under investigation for a May 11 shooting in which he and his partner fired multiple rounds at a car, killing 19-year-old passenger Michael Byoune. Police said at the time the officers believed the car was heading toward them and that gunshots were coming from within.

Officials said the officers apparently did not identify themselves before opening fire. The car's occupants were unarmed.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-07-23-3328783451_x.htm

The family of Kevin Wicks has filed two seperate suits against the department.