Deadly deputy-involved shooting under investigation in East Los Angeles

EAST LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KABC) -- One person was killed and another detained in a deputy-involved shooting during a traffic stop in East Los Angeles Thursday night.

The incident happened in the 300 block of S. Gerhart Ave. just before 11 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

An unknown altercation occurred with a man in the passenger seat of the stopped vehicle, authorities say. The passenger was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

Details of what led to the shooting have not yet been released, however, a weapon belonging to the suspect was found at the scene.

The passenger has only been identified as an 18-year-old man named Paul.

His sister told Eyewitness News that there was no scuffle, and the deputies were "trigger happy."

"He didn't deserve this at all. And his mom and his sisters and all our cousins and friends are hurting," she said.

The driver of the vehicle involved was apprehended.

A witness said he was walking in the area just minutes before the shooting.

"We turned the corner on Gerhart Avenue and we see a cop car - a sheriff's patrol - doing I guess a routine traffic stop, and about five or six seconds after I turned the corner, rapid bursts, three to seven shots," Kevin Saenz said. "Thought it was fireworks at first, but I mean seeing the cop car and putting two and two together, it wasn't fireworks."

Saenz added that he did not hear any discussion or confrontation before the gunshots.

No deputies were injured in the shooting, which remains under investigation.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), use your smartphone by downloading the "P3 Tips" Mobile APP on Google play or the Apple App Store or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org