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Residents react to fatal shooting
Anthony Dwain Lee, 39, died Saturday when an LAPD officer shot him several times through a window in the back bedroom of a mansion in Los Angeles.
The officer fired on Lee because he was pointing a realistic-looking fake gun, police said Tuesday.
But Lee's friends and family don't think the LAPD's version is accurate.
"He would never do anything as foolish as that," said Lee's sister, Tina Vogt, who works for the Sacramento Police Department.
At a Tuesday news conference, Cochran said that he also questions whether Lee pointed the replica at the officer. At any rate, he said, the officers could see the gathering was a costume party and should have expected to see a fake gun.
"What we see here are tactics and strategies gone awry," Cochran said. "No one contends this is a criminal act, per se. But it should never happen again."
Officer Tarriel Hopper has been placed on paid leave while the police department and county district attorney's office investigate the shooting.
Hopper and his partner, who did not fire her weapon, were responding to a noise complaint about the party.
Cochran, who gained fame representing O.J. Simpson at his double-murder trial, said that he believes that Hopper wandered around the property without identifying himself to guests, in violation of police policy.
Police Chief Bernard C. Parks has said that the officers did identify themselves to some partygoers but there was no time to identify himself to Lee.
LAPD officials declined to comment on Cochran's claims Tuesday.
Cochran said that the initial police report differs from information his private investigators obtained from witnesses.
The officers arrived at the home at about 1 a.m. and asked two security guards at the front door to show them to the home's tenant, Cochran said.
The guards left the officers to wait in the kitchen while they tried to find the party's host.
Officer Natalie Humphreys remained in the kitchen, Cochran said, but Hopper left to search the rear of the house with a flashlight.
That's when he saw Lee and three friends through the window.
"Everyone turned to the light," Cochran said. "They heard the shots, and the people inside saw Mr. Lee on the floor."
Hopper shot through the glass nine times, but it is not clear how many times Lee was struck. The county coroner's report has been under seal by investigators.
Parks has said that the officers were directed to the rear of the house, not the kitchen. He also said the victim pointed his realistic fake gun directly at Hopper, who had no time to shout a warning or duck.
Party guest Steve Sims, a registered nurse who tried to revive Lee, has said that he saw the fake weapon lying next to the victim's hand.
Lee had appeared in small TV and film roles on shows such as "ER," "NYPD Blue" and the 1997 Jim Carrey movie "Liar Liar."
