LAPD: 18-year-old fatally shot by police had loaded handgun

Enraged protestors filled the lobby Monday at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on behalf of Carnell Snell, an 18-year-old shot and killed by police on Saturday in South Los Angeles.

"What's his name? Carnell Snell," they chanted.

The loud chants could be heard from inside the room where Police Chief Charlie Beck was giving a briefing on his version of the shooting.

Beck said officers chased Snell to the backyard of a home on 107th street when they saw the teen take out a handgun from his waistband.

"When holding a handgun in his left hand he turned in the direction of the pursuing officers at which time an officer involved shooting occurred," Beck said.

Investigators said they found a handgun that was fully loaded 5 feet from Snell's body.

Officers fired six shots at the teen who was hit twice in the torso and the leg, according to Beck.

However, some activists refused to believe that Snell was running with his hands up when he was shot.

"When a child is shot 5 times in the back there are more questions we need to be asking than was he armed?" Janaya Khan, a Black Lives Matter activist, said.

Snell's death has sparked several days of angry protests in his neighborhood.

But Lou Turriaga, Director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League said, the outrage is misplaced.

"Where's the outrage from the community over these young adults and how they got there firearms?" he said. "Where is the outrage that these young people think it's ok to take out their weapon and point it at police officer?"

In another shooting on Sunday, Beck said the suspect, an unidentified Latino man, also pointed a gun at officers.

Investigators said the gun was a replica, but had been doctored to look like the real thing.
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"In both these instances, the officers feared for their lives because of the actions of the individuals that they were pursuing," Beck said.

In Saturday's shooting of Snell, officers weren't wearing body cameras, but investigators obtained security video from a business that they said showed Snell with a gun in his hand.

In Sunday's shooting, officers were equipped with body cameras and Beck said the footage supports their version of the story.

Protestors have demanded to see the videos, but Beck said they would not be released at this point in the investigations.

Chief Beck's Monday press conference:

Video of Saturday's press conference:

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