Police Brutality / Individual record
Steven Eugene Washington
Unarmed autistic man Steven Eugene Washington, 27, was shot by LAPD anti-gang officers in Koreatown on March 20, 2010.
- Record ID
- PB-040
- Date of death
- March 20, 2010
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
Shortly after midnight on March 20, 2010, LAPD Officers Allan Corrales and George Diego encountered Steven Eugene Washington walking along Vermont Avenue in Koreatown. Both were assigned to an anti-gang unit. They reported a noise and stated that Washington failed to obey commands before reaching toward his waistband. The officers shot him, but no weapon was found. His relatives described him as a man with autism and developmental disabilities who could have been frightened or confused by an unexpected police confrontation. Civilian oversight reviewed the tactics that escalated a routine street encounter into a fatal shooting.
Investigation & findings
The Los Angeles Police Commission rejected the chief's recommendation and concluded the officers' use of deadly force violated department policy. Distinguish that policy finding from any criminal conviction, which these two reports do not establish.
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- Historical source-derived record, pre-2015
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Published historical compilation of Black people killed in police custody (1999–2014)SAGE journal / cited NAACP LDF memorial listing · 2016 · Secondary scholarly source