#Robert Fuller’s half-brother fatally shot by California deputies, family attorney says

The half-brother of Robert Fuller — the black man found hanging from a tree in California last week — was reportedly fatally shot by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday, the family’s attorney said.

Detectives with the LASD had stopped a man in a car suspected of kidnapping and spousal assault when he opened fire on the deputies at about 4:40 p.m. in Rosamond, CBSLA reported.

The deputies returned fire, fatally striking the man and also wounding a woman, who’s not the spouse, that was inside the car.

A 7-year-old girl who was also seated inside the vehicle was unharmed, authorities said.

Jamon Hicks, the Fuller family attorney, identified the familial connection in a Wednesday statement to the outlet.

The county sheriff’s department would not confirm the relation, the report said.

Fuller, 24, was discovered in a park near Palmdale City Hall early on June 10.

The county medical examiner-coroner’s office originally said Fuller appeared to have died by suicide. Officials noted that investigators only found rope and a backpack in the park, and nothing to indicate foul play.

But following outcry from Fuller’s family — who said he was not suicidal — and from community members, Los Angeles County sheriff Alex Villanueva announced Monday that the department had opened up a homicide probe into the man’s death.