Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies were following a kidnapping suspect, they said.
The half-brother of Robert Fuller, a Black man found hanged from a tree in California, died in a shootout with Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, according to the department. Detectives had been tracking a man who was wanted for kidnapping, spousal assault and assault with a deadly weapon, the sheriff's department said Wednesday in a statement.
When deputies pulled his car over, he opened the passenger door and began shooting, the department said.
He was identified as Terron Jammal Boone by an attorney representing the family of Fuller, the 24-year-old man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale last week.
A 7-year-old girl was also in the vehicle, driven by a woman who was shot during the incident. She was treated and released from a nearby hospital, and the child was not hurt, the department said. The woman was not the alleged kidnap and assault victim, authorities said.
“At this time, until we receive all of the information, the family and their legal team doesn’t have any further comment on this incident. The family respectfully asks that their privacy be respected,” lawyer Jamon Hicks said in a statement.
Authorities initially said Fuller's death appeared to be a suicide, but his family has said he was not suicidal. Hundreds protested at the park where his body was found.
The state attorney general's office and the FBI are monitoring investigations into the deaths of Fuller and of Malcolm Harsch, a 38-year-old homeless Black man who was found hanging from a tree on May 31 in Victorville, a desert city in San Bernardino County about 50 miles from Palmdale.
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