The upward trend of police shootings of Black male suspects has another statistic with the death of a Los Angeles teen on Saturday, Oct 1. Police state that Carnell Snell Jr., age 18, was spotted by police in a car with paper license tags yesterday. When police attempted to stop the vehicle, it is alleged that Snell sped off, starting a car pursuit. The high-speed chase ended in a south L.A. neighborhood as two occupants ran from the car in different directions and police gave chase.
LAPD spokesperson Sgt. Barry Montgomery stated “The officers gave chase, a foot pursuit, and went eastbound at some point on 107th Street to the rear of a residence … It was at that time that the officer-involved shooting occurred. The officers summoned paramedics who responded to the scene, and unfortunately, the suspect succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim has been identified as Carnell Snell, Jr., an 18-year-old resident of the neighborhood.”
Snell ran into the backyard of a home and witnesses stated they heard gunshots. The tragedy unfolded in front of Snell’s sister, Trenell Snell. She was outside with friends when she saw police chasing her brother and she started running, then she heard “boom, boom. boom, boom” and dove to the ground. When she looked around she saw her brother on the ground being handcuffed by police. Police are stating that the suspect was armed and a weapon was recovered at the scene. Family members stated that Snell was killed outside his home and a crowd soon developed. Police taped off the scene and local activists began arriving as the investigation into the shooting began. The community was outraged over the recent police killings in the news and are distrustful of the claims that Snell was armed. Snell’s mother, Monique Morgan came to the scene as soon as she heard her son had been shot. Morgan said her son was shot five times in the back but police have not verified her statement.
Black Lives Matter activists used Twitter to rally for the community to come out to a protest near the shooting scene. Police sealed off the nearby intersection and were in riot gear as the angry crowd grew and later thinned out. The community is upset at the perception of police being judge, jury and executioner.
