The family of Brandon Boyd, who was shot and killed by Long Beach police officers on Nov. 19., said in a news conference on Nov. 26 that he had been suffering from a mental health crisis when he died and claimed the shooting was unlawful.
According to a news release from the Long Beach Police Department, officers received a report of a man armed with a gun on the 5200 block of Atlantic Ave around 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 19. In a later statement, police spokesman Richard Mejia said that police received a 911 text, which Boyd confirmed he had sent.
They located the 38-year-old suspect and attempted to de-escalate, calling for a hostage negotiator and a Mental Evaluation Team. SWAT was eventually called in as well. Boyd allegedly produced a firearm after over two and a half hours. He and four officers exchanged shots. Boyd was declared dead on the scene, while an officer was shot in the arm.
On Tuesday morning, Nov. 26, Boyd’s family and members of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Long Beach hosted a news conference on the steps of the Iglesia De Cristo Miel church, where Boyd, of Long Beach, was shot.
Family members at the news conference, several of whom were present the night Boyd was shot, told a different story than police and demanded justice for Boyd’s death.
“He was peaceful and in need of help,” Brandon’s sister Tiffany Boyd said. “Despite this, the police decided to escalate the situation by deploying a flash grenade, a violent and unnecessary act that led to the fatal shooting of my big brother.”
“He wasn’t perfect, but I must reiterate, my brother did not deserve to die this way,” Tiffany Boyd said.
She claimed that police initiated the violence by using excessive force. The family did not directly dispute the claim that Boyd shot first.
”Officers deployed less-lethal foam projectiles and a flashbang, as a diversionary tactic,” Mejia said in a statement. “The suspect pointed the firearm at officers, resulting in an exchange of gunfire between officers and the suspect.”
The family also claimed that members of the Mental Evaluation Team never exited the car during the ordeal to offer assistance.
“I don’t care what that policeman went on the TV and said,” Boyd said. “Witnesses saw that lady on the scene and she never left her car despite people begging and pleading for her to do her job.”
The department did not respond to questions regarding this claim.
Rather than sending in trained mental health professionals, Boyd claimed, police called in SWAT.
Boyd’s sisters Desiree and Tyerra Boyd, and her daughter, who were at the church that night, said they were also mistreated by police, both emotionally and physically.
They said that police handcuffed the women and placed them in a police car within view of Boyd’s uncovered body. They said they remained there for hours, facing their dead brother and uncle’s body.
Mejia did not address the claim that the family was placed in view of the body, but did confirm that three people were arrested at the scene.
“Two subjects were arrested for obstructing of a police officer, and an additional subject was arrested for obstructing a police officer and battery on a police officer,” Mejia said.
The family did not disclose these charges during the news conference.
Lamikia Castillo, a friend of the family, came to the scene that night after Boyd had been shot.
“The police reports say that he was shot down, gunned down by police at about 5.45 p.m.,” Castillo said. “His body was here until about 2 a.m.”
Desiree Boyd, who was celebrating her birthday the day of the news conference, arrived with her right arm in a cast. She says the injury was caused by Long Beach police officers.
The department did not respond to questions about this claim, nor claims that the body was left on the church steps until 2 a.m.
The Boyd family and Black Lives Matter chapter representatives are calling for the release of the 911 text and the names of the four officers involved.
“We are grieving and broken,” Tiffany Boyd said. “We will not stop until we get justice for Brandon and until there is a change.”
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