Andres Guardado case: FBI to review evidence in fatal shooting of 18-year-old by LA County sheriff's deputy
Autopsies confirmed that Guardado was shot five times in the back during a confrontation in Gardena.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The FBI will review evidence into the shooting death of Andres Guardado, the 18-year-old man who was shot and killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy in Gardena, the bureau said Friday.
The results of two autopsies - one officially conducted by the county coroner, the other independently commissioned by Guardado's family -- revealed that he was shot in the back five times during a confrontation with two deputies last month.
"FBI Los Angeles is aware of the death of Andres Guardado and will review all available evidence to determine what federal response is warranted," a spokeswoman for the bureau said in a statement.
Sheriff says Burcher 'remains as captain' after comments on Andres Guardado case
Attorneys for the deputy who opened fire in the incident said the shooting was in self-defense after Guardado reached for a nearby handgun on the ground, which was later recovered.
Adam Shea, a lawyer representing the deceased man's family, said: "Andres was not facing deputies so he should not have been shot, he should not have been killed and the sheriff's department is just trying to put the kibosh on this information so that nobody knows what really happened."
On Wednesday, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that Capt. John Burcher "remains as captain" amid an administrative investigation after comments he made on Facebook about the case.
Burcher wrote, among other things, that Guardado "CHOSE his fate."
He was using his personal Facebook account and replying to a local news story posted on Facebook about the Guardado case.
