Torrance police indicted two officers more than three years after they fatally shot a 22-year-old man during a traffic stop.
Two Torrance police officers have been indicted over the 2018 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Christopher DeAndre Mitchell, more than three years after the District Attorney’s Office initially declined to file charges against them.
Officers Anthony Chavez and Matthew Concannon were involved in the shooting.
A man flagged down Torrance police around 8 p.m. on December 9, 2018, near 220th Street and Western Avenue, saying his Civic had been stolen.
Authorities found the 2000 Honda Civic in the parking lot of a Ralphs grocery store at 1770 Carson Street.
Mitchell was in a stolen car in a supermarket parking lot with an altered long gun between his legs when officers first approached him.
Police said the weapon appeared to be a real gun in the dark lighting.
The officers parked behind Mitchell, exited their vehicle and yelled, “Police!”
The officers repeatedly ordered Mitchell to get out of the car, but he did not comply.
“Get out of the car!” an officer commanded in footage released later.
“My bad, I didn’t…” Mitchell responded.
The shooting unfolded in seconds.
When they approached him, the officers noticed Mitchell’s hands move toward his lap, where Concannon saw what he believed to be a firearm. Both officers then shot Mitchell at close range, killing him.
The total time from the activation of the body worn video to the first shot being fired is approximately 12 seconds.
Mitchell was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said Mitchell was inside the car, armed with a Crosman Phantom 1000 air rifle.
The Crosman Air Rifle recovered from Mitchell’s lap is manufactured with a shoulder-style butt stock, but it appears that Mitchell’s rifle had been modified by removing the butt stock and leaving the grip.
The weapon had been drastically altered.
Individuals who alter butt stocks generally do so to make a long gun easier to conceal.
Initially, authorities defended the shooting.
The previous District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s office found that officers Anthony Chavez and Matthew Concannon were justified in the fatality.
As the responding officers approached, they observed what they reasonably perceived to be a firearm in Mitchell’s lap. Although the weapon was later determined to be an air rifle, the officer’s belief that the weapon was a firearm was reasonable under the circumstances.
However, civil rights activists rejected that conclusion.
Black Lives Matter activists regularly held protests at Torrance City Council meetings for months following Mitchell’s death. The group also engaged in various protests aimed at Lacey, whom BLM protesters criticized as being unwilling to prosecute law enforcement officers.
A new district attorney reopened the case.
More than three years after the District Attorney’s Office initially declined to file charges against them, the indictment charges were issued as District Attorney George Gascon reopened the investigation after he took office.
Gascon vowed during his campaign to take a closer look at law enforcement shootings.
In the viral moment captured on body camera, Mitchell first placed his hands on the steering wheel as officers approached. The video shows him apologizing twice to police. But when officers ordered him repeatedly to exit the vehicle and he did not comply, the situation escalated. As officers drew closer, video evidence showed Mitchell’s hands moving toward the area where the air rifle rested between his legs. The officers said they believed they saw a firearm. Within seconds, both officers opened fire at close range. Mitchell continued speaking after being shot but was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Mitchell case went to a grand jury that ultimately handed down the indictments.