#18-year-old shot by LA deputy 5 times in the back, independent autopsy finds

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Mourners hold images of Andres Guardado, who was fatally shot by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, at a memorial site in Gardena, California.

AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

Attorneys representing the family of a Southern California man who was fatally shot by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy last month said Wednesday that an independent autopsy found he was shot five times in the back.

Andres Guardado, 18, a security guard at an autobody shop, died after he was shot on June 18 in Gardena, setting off a wave of protests amid tense relations between police departments and minority communities nationwide.

The attorneys said the autopsy revealed Guardado suffered a graze abrasion to his left forearm with a forward trajectory and did not have alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of his death. They said it proves the shooting was “without a doubt, the result of unjustified police violence against an innocent young man.”

“These findings confirm what we have known all along, which is that Andres was unjustifiably killed by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy,” Guardado’s parents, Cristobal and Elisa, said in a statement. “Andres was a good boy, he was our son and he had so much life ahead of him. Our son did not deserve to die this way.”

The autopsy was requested by the family after the sheriff’s department put a “security hold” on the results of the official report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department claims to be guided by principal values of Integrity, Accountability, Service and Ethics, but the Guardado family has seen NOTHING from this Department except a complete lack of transparency and accountability following the unjustified shooting of their son,” family attorney Adam Shea said. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Two deputies said they saw Guardado talking to someone in a car the night he died when he allegedly produced a handgun and started running, authorities said. After a short foot chase into an alley, Guardado was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.

Attorneys for the two deputies — Miguel Vega, who opened fire, and Chris Hernandez, who did not shoot — told the Los Angeles Times the shooting was justified.

Guardado’s family and local activists have expressed doubt about the department’s narrative of events leading up to his death. The department has still not explained why Vega fired his weapon.

The sheriff’s department did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment. Last month, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he reached out to the state attorney general to monitor the investigation out of an “abundance of caution.”

Guardado’s family said he was working as a security guard at the auto repair shop because the owner wanted to deter graffiti vandals.