Police Brutality / Individual record
Ezell Ford
Ezell Ford, 25, a Black man with a documented history of mental-health difficulties, was shot by LAPD officers on August 11, 2014 in South Los Angeles.
- Record ID
- PB-073
- Incident date
- August 11, 2014
- Date of death
- August 11, 2014
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
On August 11, 2014, gang-enforcement officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas stopped and followed Ezell Ford as he walked near 65th Street. Police asserted that a physical struggle ensued and Ford reached for an officer's gun. His family and witnesses disputed the officer account and asked why they approached a man simply walking in his neighborhood. The coroner identified gunshot injuries, including a close-range wound to Ford's back. The shooting mobilized residents and protesters questioning whether officers had initiated an unnecessary confrontation and used excessive force against a vulnerable person.
Investigation & findings
In 2015 the Los Angeles Police Commission found fault with aspects of the tactics/use of force, while the Los Angeles County district attorney announced no criminal charges in 2017. IMPORTANT: the sheet listed August 12, but the LAPD and prosecutor documents date the shooting and death August 11, 2014.
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