See the bottom of the post for the latest updates
ORIGINAL POST, MARCH 20 5:30 P.M.: Anaheim police shot and killed a man today at the 1100 block of Mayfair Avenue near the intersection of La Palma Avenue and Citron Street. It's the first fatal killing by the department since back-to-back shootings in July 2012 set off riots in the city that made national news.
Details are slim at the moment, but the Weekly was the first media on the scene. At the time, a non-fatal shooting took place when a gunman opened fire on Orange County Probation Officers conducting searches.
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“[They] were working in a county marked white car when they contacted three individuals on the street,” Anaheim Police Department Public Information Officer Lt. Tim Schmidt tells the Weekly. “Two suspects took off running. One suspect pulled a handgun out, shot multiple rounds, missed them and ran away.”
The incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. on Lodge Street near Mayfair Avenue. Children walking out of nearby Horace Mann Elementary school were on lockdown. Anaheim police arrived to search for the suspects. As a K-9 unit drove into the area, a standard warning sounded from the helicopter hovering above that a K-9 dog was going to be released. Police cleared residents off to the side of La Palma and Mayfair Avenue.
Around 3:15 p.m., a sudden volley of gunshots that sounded like firecrackers being set off in a trashcan were heard. Residents took off running in both directions. After 20 months of relative quiet, Anaheim police shot a man dead. “During the search of the original suspect in the original shooting, officers found him,” Lt. Schmidt told the Weekly. “The suspect shot the K-9, also shot at the officers and the officers returned fire.”
An ambulance left the area, but without its sirens on. The reason was clear.
“He has not been transported,” Lt. Schmidt said of the downed suspect. “I can confirm that he's dead on the scene.”
“Officers and witnesses to both shootings have been transported back to Anaheim Police Department for interviews,” he added. The name and age of the dead man hasn't been released. The Weekly will keep tabs on developments as they come.
Investigators with the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) arrived on scene as is customary in all officer-involved shootings.
FIRST UPDATE, MARCH 20, 7:45 P.M.: Here's some video from the scene:
The unnamed man killed today by Anaheim police wasn't transported to a hospital right away, but the K-9 he shot twice was. The Orange County Register's writeup dedicates an entire three paragraphs to Bruno the German Shepherd. Readers learned that the dog is a six-year veteran trained for SWAT duties, the first K-9 injured by gun fire in recent memory, is undergoing emergency surgery and that he's the color of “sable.”
Any actual news on the dead suspect, or his crime at hand? The Reg didn't care, nor did the Anaheim PD bother to disclose any details.
The doggie down predictably aroused the Register's troglodytic readers, since the paper didn't put the story behind its fabled paywall. “If he shot my dog i would of put 10 rounds in him,” writes one pendejo, in the most liked comment so far. “The only tragedy here is the cop dog getting injured. All else is good,” chimed another.
Oh, Register readers, how we miss you…not.
See the next page to see the identity of the man killed by Anaheim police after the shootout…
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SECOND UPDATE, MARCH 21, 7:29 A.M.: Although authorities have yet to release the name of the man killed in the shootout yesterday, the Facebook community for the Citron Street gang that claims the neighborhood where it happened are mourning his death as one of their own, identifying him as “Lil Clumsy.” The 'OCC' noted in the photo refers to Orange County Criminals, a street gang from Orange a source tells us is clicked up with Citron.
Telling is the person who wrote on a page that Lil Clumsy is “reunited with my criminal Cartoon and my boy minor.. real mothafucken G's !!!!!”
“Minor” refers to Angel Rivera, a Citron Street member murdered by rivals in 2012. “Cartoon” was another cholo whose legal name we can't remember right now.
In the meanwhile, we'll let you lovely readers ponder the irony of a Lil Clumsy getting caught up in this hot mess…have at it!
THIRD UPDATE, MARCH 21, 12:40 P.M.: According to City News Service, the coroner's office identified Robert Moreno, Jr. as the 21-year-old man fatally gunned down in yesterday's shootout with Anaheim police.
Moreno, being remembered on Facebook by his street name, Lil Clumsy, has a long rap sheet: misdemeanor guilty plea for failing to register as a gang member, felony convictions for unlawful taking of a vehicle, drug possession, evading and resisting arrest, with felony criminal street gang enhancements that sent him to two years in state prison. But Moreno wasn't under any warrants or probation violation as of yesterday, so why he decided to shoot at a probation officer who wasn't even checking up on him remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, Bruno the Dog remains sedated and has become an Internet sensation. But how Bruno got in the line of fire also remains a mystery. Anaheim PD reports that Moreno directly shot at Bruno have been replaced with a version of the events that Moreno, while shooting at the Anaheim PD, inadvertently hit Bruno. Guess we'll have to wait for the OC DA report when it comes out for the rest of the story…
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Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!