Police Brutality / Individual record
Leroy Browning
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Leroy Browning in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2015-12-20 in Palmdale, CA. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-327
- Incident date
- December 20, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Palmdale, CA
- Agency
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 30
What happened
Leroy Browning, 30, was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in Palmdale on December 20, 2015, after his vehicle collided near a Taco Bell drive-through. Deputies initially approached to investigate an apparently intoxicated or unconscious driver. During a struggle while trying to place Browning in a patrol car, an officer reportedly shouted that Browning was reaching for a deputy's weapon, and another officer fired. Browning's family sued, arguing that deputies were poorly trained and that the lethal confrontation could have been avoided. A later Los Angeles Times investigation discussed Deputy Craig Polissky's deposition regarding the incident; he did not personally fire the fatal shot. The police version and family's allegations remain distinct from any final court judgment.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1106
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 20
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset