Anaheim police station stormed by protesters after fatal shooting
An Oakland police officer holds a shotgun as Occupy protesters are detained for attempting to block a street in Oakland, Calif., on May 1, 2012.
A group of about 50 protesters stormed the Anaheim, Calif., police station today, rushing into the lobby to demand justice for a fatal shooting of a city resident on Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police shot a man family members identified as Manuel Diaz around 4 p.m. Saturday in front of an apartment complex on North Anna Avenue after he ran away from them, the Orange County Register reported. The man died in the hospital around 7 p.m.
According to Police Chief John Welter, who spoke to reporters this afternoon, the officers chased the man because they saw him engaging in suspicious activity – leaning into a car and talking to the two men inside the vehicle – the Orange County Register reported. When the police approached the car, it sped away, and the man took off running, throwing objects onto rooftops as he fled, Welter said. Welter did not explain what caused the officers to shoot the man.
A crowd formed as police arrived at the scene to investigate the shooting, Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn told the LA Times. After people began throwing bottles and other objects at the police and pushed a dumpster filled with burning garbage toward them, officers shot rubber bullets and pepper balls into the crowd.
According to the LA Times:
A police dog also got free from an officer's car and charged at several people before it was pulled back, [Dunn] added.
Manuel Diaz’s sister, Lupe Diaz, told the Orange County Register that her brother was "just hanging out with friends" before he was shot. She added: "There is no explanation” for his death. “It's not fair."
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