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Jul 22, 2008 1:37 am US/Pacific
Police Fatally Shoot Postal Worker In Inglewood
Was 38-Year-Old Man Killed In A Case Of Mistaken Identity?
INGLEWOOD, Calif.
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A man was shot and killed in Inglewood on Sunday night.
CBS
Police shot and killed a man who answered his door holding a hand gun and almost immediately friends and family of the man say cops killed Kevin Wicks, 38, in a case of mistaken identity.
Police were responding to a call about domestic violence but family members said Wicks, a postal employee, lived alone.
KCAL 9 reporter Mark Coogan is reporting that the officer believed to have fired the fatal shot was also involved in an OIS in May that left another man dead. Police sources confirm the officer who fired the fatal shot that killed Kevin Wicks was Brian Ragan.
Wicks, 38, was shot about 12:20 a.m. at 124 N. Hillcrest Blvd., said Inglewood police Lt. Mike McBride. No officers were hurt.
It is unclear if Ragan also fired the fatal shot that killed 19-year-old Michael Byoune in May.
Wicks died at a hospital about an hour after the shooting. A handgun
that had been in his possession was recovered by police at the scene, McBride said.
"They knocked on the door and they identified themselves as police
officers," McBride said.
"The officers saw that he was holding a handgun," McBride said. "He
raised it at the officers. There was an officer-involved shooting. One officer
fired."
A woman identified as Wicks' sister told reporters: "He was a good dude,
and I love him." She said family members believe police went to the wrong
apartment.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable called
for a dialogue between police and residents in the light of the shooting death, which he said was the third officer-involved shooting in as many months.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
