Dexter Luckett, 23

I wonder if they found a weapon after they shot and killed him????????????

Once again under victim killed by cops because an incompetent sheriff believed the suspect had retrieved a weapon. It is all too common now cops killing individuals because it appear they were reaching for their waistband. This has to stop now! Will the sheriff even go to trial? Is he going to be charge for murder? The answers to these questions is NO. Again, this clearly sends a message to all other peace officers that is okay to kill abiding citizens.

Do we see a pattern of trigger happy marksmen aka cops? Look at these words carefully used in this press release. "Allegedly," "reaching for his waistband," "fired one shot," but when the coroner examined the body there were 2 gunshot wounds? This is insane. Unfortunately, cops have a brotherhood that takes care of one another and we may never know the truth. ANOTHER young man of color gunned down without any weapon found on them. Killed because he was a suspect and posed a threat by reaching for his waistband. Shouldnʻt the police wait and see a weapon until they fire? I know in the Coast Guard, that was our training when boarding a vessel. We could not assume someone had a weapon and use deadly force. This young person followed orders and was killed. I wonder if maybe he was pulling up his pants because he was "saggin". It is sad to see this happen weekly.

everyday reader: Did you pay attention for more than one paragraph? What does that last sentence say? Read it and you won't be wondering.

Ok lets see. The deputy was responding to shots being fired. The suspect matched the informant's description of the person doing the shooting and also happened to be in the location where the informant said he was. When the suspect was ordered to keep his hands in the air he kept reaching for his waist band.
How can anyone blame the deputy for thinking the suspect was going for a gun? Waiting to see the weapon might be too late for the officer.

A black man not complying with deputies' orders and reaching for his waistband and shot and killed. And only 5 comments?

what A freakin' IDIOT! this is not about cops. this is NOT the fault of the police. This is a stupid person acting stupid and getting killed for it.

I was thinking the same thing- he was "saggin" and trying to pull up his pants. He was in the wrong -but this is just another lost soul. He is loved by his family and I feel their pain. He was not doing what he was supposed to do, but his life is now over and it is sad.

There have been numerous police-inflicted killings in the last few days, one in Montebello. Supposedly the man was wielding a knife, but I feel like these officers are shooting to kill, and not desist. This kid didn't have a gun, and they could have shot him in a place that wouldn't kill him if necessary.
Peace and prayers to the family who lost a young son and a lifetime.

Here's an idea: if he was just "saggin" and trying to pull up his pants and it ended up getting him killed, then how about not wearing your pants so loose. Then you won't need to reach for your waistband and the added benefit is you won't be misidentified as a saggin pants gang banger. Kind of works out all the way around.

Hey Splash: your post is similar to a lot of others on this report where you suggest the officer should have "shot him in a place that wouldn't kill him". A couple points about the use of a firearm in self defense: When you shoot somebody in defense, you are neither shooting to kill nor are you shooting to wound; you are shooting to stop the person attacking you. That means your shot needs to have a high probability of striking the attacker (thus you try for the widest/easiest target which is usually mid torso region) and also the damage from the shot needs to rapidly affect the attacker to drop him to the ground. Pardon the graphics here but generally that means you need to cause severe bleeding either internal or external so his blood pressure and blood supply delivery are damaged fast. That's what stops him. When someone is attacking, there is a lot of adrenaline generally and adrenaline can get the attacker to keep on coming even if he's been hit with a superficial wound. Loss of blood supply and pressure, though, will overcome any adrenaline rush very rapidly. One more thing for those of you that may need to defend yourself someday with a firearm. Make sure the caliber and design of the ammunition you are using is of sufficient energy and penetration that you can do rapid damage to this blood delivery system or you might be faced with your attacker upon you and using your own weapon on you. Shotgun 20 guage or larger is excellent; handgun 38 cal or larger will work too. Sorry for the lecture here but way too many of you out there are not understanding the use of firearms in self defense by the police or by yourself, God forbid.

Why are people making excuses for this boy's bad behavior? He was told to put his hands up and keep them there. He disobeyed not once, but twice! Do you really expect the police to wait until he's shot to return fire? If people, no matter their color, would simply obey the directions given by the police, these types of incidents would NOT happen! If you're trying to be a smart alek or mess with the police, you WILL be looked at with suspicion and the consequences could be deadly. Be smart. Follow the law! It's really NOT that hard!

If this was a white or even a hispanic who was going to law school, the context of the comments would be different, but no he's black, and noone really cares. May god bless the poor soul of this forever young man, who was left, like a oil soaked bird in the Gulf of Mexico gasping for its last breath.

For those who claim that cops shoot just to kill, there is a good reason for that. It is protocol to shoot in the chest area. My family member (really close member) is a retired 30 year veteran. Once and once only did he have to shoot someone. The incident occurred in the mid 80's when a man high on PCP ran at my family member with a knife. He ordered the suspect down who kept charging at him regardless. He thought "shoot to stop, not to kill" so logic says take out the leg. He shoots the suspect in one leg with no effect. The man keeps charging so he shoots the other leg which finally stopped him. The man is still alive and a successful arrest was made.

16 years later the case was reopened by former police chief Parks. Upon review, they found that my family member was wrong to shoot the legs. He was supposed to shoot the chest. So he was suspended for months without pay.

This is why most officer involved shootings are fatal. They are not allowed to aim anywhere but the chest without being punished for it.

@ katie.....no one is making excuses for his behavior. and it does matter the color of the person. if he was white he wouldnt be dead. police are always trigger happy when it comes to minorities.

— jasmine; and its an unfortunate fact that minorities are more prone to violence. Think thats a reason why police seem to have more officer involved shootings with black and hispanics?

Think Im a racist just inventing things? Look at the FBI crime stats. Its not politically to say so, but untill some basic truths are discussed, nothing will even be done about it.

jasmine, you ARE making an excuse for his bad behavior of not complying with the officer's order. You are blaming the officer for protecting himself! When this man went for his waistband, how was the officer to know he would NOT come up with a weapon? Is he to wait until he sees a weapon? By then, it could be too late. Until those of you refuse to acknowledge the role this man had in his own death, these types of shootings will continue to occur. The shootings can be avoided by COMPLYING with orders given by police! It's very simple, really!!! If you really care about the children, teach the children to comply! I've done it, and it works!

... men ... mothers ... can you help me here? when are young men going to learn that saggin' is a code word for getting shot by the police? in reachng for your waistband to pull up your pants, you are accused of "reaching for a weapon" before taking a step? as long as this style remains, many more will be lost! pull up your pants and save your own life! condolences and prayers to the family!

Katie, you are the one making excuses for the cops. Since when is it okay to kill a person because he/she didn't comply? We are human beings and we are not robots where we can always comply as being told. How about more trainings for cops to avoid pulling the trigger and use other means to make an arrest?

— jag, and what happens when the officer hesitates and the subject does pull a gun and starts shooting?

If it is indeed a case where he had loose fitting pants and tried to pull them up, then tough luck. He should have wore a belt.

this is horrific i am extremely disapointed in any indiidual who sees that this process was s.o.p is this the regular procedure was lethal force the only option ? well we will only her one side of this story because the other half is not talking .... is he we are so quick to judge . i am sure police in la is a dangerous job however you are not judge jury and exec. slow your roll this is the west not the wild wild west

its a long story what happened.... but... police have vests.. my step dad wasnt gang related... im thinkin the cop shot him in the arm..then got trigger happy and shot him again... the cal was 45 he didnt have to lie and say he shot once... my friends and i are scared the cops told my friend they were going to kill his brother and their not scared to kill another black or mexican,,,(damn dex i miss you my nigg soo much...)BLK...

Splash: Cops don't shoot to "desist." Furtive moves on a shots fired call will get you killed. What this kid did was incredibly stupid and he paid the price. Hopefully there's not a gun stashed in the area for some kid to find.

@ jax how stupid of you! didnt the police say they didnt find a weapon? Very judemental of you to think otherwise by your last statement. He paid a price he shouldn't have paid. I agree if there was a gun found but there was nothing. To many incidents were killings happen by police officers and there were no weapons when the damage was already done.@ katie your jus as stupid as Jax saying he deserved it by reaching for his waist band. What if he was reaching for his i.d.? because he was nervous? thats not consider bad behavior because he wasn't reaching for a gun. Stupid careless heartless people!

Not until you have experienced losing a love one to a violent crime can you judge. A human life was taken, by another human being. Was it justified? No! The young man I am sure has a mother and family, who have to live with their son's murder by law enforcement... Who do you trust...
Why was he shot two times??

"Then tough luck.He should've wore a belt" Real heartless comment's from a bunch of racsit. aka Syscom

— everyday reader, quote where I said something racial?

Everyone says that I am a racist but can never find the statements to prove it.

I think people like you have so overused that word, it no longer has any meaning!

BTW - It was not my words that resulted in his death. It was his choice in fashion that did him in!

This was one of my older brother they killed man R.I.P DEXTER LOVE JENISE

The cops have just cross the line this was my cuzzin and they didi this. This is exactly why young black boys dont matter how old you are. Whenever you see a cop just run that is what I do. They tryna gun us all down cause they know that we are the last of a dying breed. Oh yea and to all yall rednecks and prics just cause you got a badge dont get trigga happy cause you know what goes around comes around.that is why I have a liscensed gun just like them pigs. I just wish I was their to save my cuzzin. R.I.P MY CUZZIN I LOVE YOU MAN I WISH IT COULDVE BEEN ME INSTEAD.

SYSCOM...WERE YOU HUMILIATED IN SCHOOL? DO YOU WALK AROUND WITH SOME SORT OF COMPLEX? YOU ARE A WUSS THAT HIDES BEHIND A KEYBOARD AND MOUSE AREN'T YOU? Anyhow, this senseless murder occurred down the street from where I reside. The initial shooting happened about 9:00 PM...it was a drive-by targeting the local street gang (18 St.) that hangs out in front of this MDU. No one was hit. They all scattered and ran into the complex. The residents stood on the street waiting for law enforcement to show...45 minutes later the copter and about 30 deputies showed up and stormed the complex like they were going to war...seconds later gunfire broke out again. Out of fear because of what happened earlier...a deputy fired...a young man later died. No gun was never found, people that were there say the deputy was scared and opened fire. 45 minutes later the law shows up and murders a young black man...a scary ass man like syscom reacted out of fear and killed a human being. Now we read the doctored version of what happened, the media is misinformed and the result is idiots like Syscom defending themselves against racial insecurity and self-esteem issues...DAMN!

Any relationship to Mrs. Elmira Luckett?

Save your life- WEAR A BELT OR SUSPENDERS! If you are going to wear your pants around your knees and continually pull them up when cops order you to lift your hands, perhaps it's best to let them fall to your ankles.

@ pants on the ground people: For many reason this fashion statement (if you can call it that) really needs to end! Not only can it get you killed as perhaps was the case with Mr. Luckett, but its unsafe in other ways (if for instance you are being chased by a bad guy). Most of all sporting pants belted around your thighs is just plain unattractive and stupid looking. People aren’t staring to admire you they are staring to mock you.

@syscom: You said "minorities are more prone to violence" then cited some FBI crime stats - sounds racist to me. Minorities (are you including all groups or just Blacks and hispanics?) are perhaps victimized more by violent crime than whites... Quoting stats doesn't make your statement true just incendiary - which is probably what you enjoy. Got facts?

My condolences to the family & the stepson. It is not their fault and nevertheless they will miss their loved one. ON THE OTHER HAND there are a lot of facts not mentioned that make a huge difference: It is not mentioned that Luckett & two other guys had been involved in an attempted robbery/murder with an semi-automatic firearm upon two people on March 28, 2010 at a local liquor store. I followed this case & attended the trial, and if he were alive, he would have been standing trial along with the other two guys who were arrested. The jury found both guys guilty for these crimes and had Luckett been alive, he too would have faced the same fate. Attached to these charges were gang allegation charges. Both these defendants, who were with Luckett on that night belong to the 18th Street gang. The surveillance video showed all three perpetrating the crime, especially Luckett who was the more active one in instigating the crime. At the time I kept wondering why this 3rd person that was identified in the surveillance was not there with the other two in court until I asked and was told the sad news. NOW, the police knowing all these facts mentioned above - they respond to shots being fired, and come upon Luckett, he has affiliations with the 18th street gang(you draw your own conclusion)and the very important fact that they are working on this case mentioned above where he is a suspect - I would have approached that scene with caution too. All he had to do was comply. It is not the police's fault that he didn't obey a simple command. Even if your pants are falling, as mentioned above, who cares. Let the pants fall if that means you will get shot. Face it: If you have guns drawn on you and you are told to keep your hands on the car, who wouldn't obey. The police fear for their lives too. Keep in mind that it is protocol for them to shoot if someone appears to be reaching for something, even without all the facts mentioned above. Before we judge any motives of ANYONE, you should consider that there may be facts you are not aware of that led them to react the way they did. Put yourself in their shoes.

i just read something that was a big lie about dexter dexter was now involed in any crime because he was in fontana cal, during that time pluse 18teen street and grape street do not get along you fool there is more than 60 people that will say he was in fontana the sherriffs killed him in cold blood i hope they die as well in cold bloodjust like that

THis young man was a loving caring soul no gang member or nothing. A loving father and his mothers misses him so much. Gone to soon. police are dirty. the person that said he match the description was a evil bitter lady that did not like black people. They did not find any gun on him because he did not have one. smh. The officer that shot him was shooting to kill.

The officer could have shot Dexter in another part of his body. The officer said he was fear for his life thats BS. we see this alot now officer killing people for no reason. So for those ppl on here commenting that Dexter was stupid. Watch the names u call ppl this was amy family in law love one. And u have family to. Just another young guy victim of the cops..we miss u Dexter...

If he was with 2 other peoples & went 2 jail at lease he would still b alive! They straight murdered him! Lets b fair, u sound like a police!

His life wasn't perfect but he didn't too be shot. He didn't have a gun on him. And he was pullin up his pants they were fallin and the cop could see he didn't have a gun. That's why they tried to say he reached behind his back. They could have tased or pepper sprayed him. Cops are too trigger happy. R.I.P. Dex

— Bellflower's finest
Well, then this should be a warning call to all those that like to 'sag' their pants to the ground.

People to learn how to follow orders, when they say hands up they mean hands up the police don't play games once they pull their guns out, he should have known better.