Family of slain Skid Row homeless man recounts moment they learned of his death

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of Charly Keunang, the homeless man who was shot and killed by LAPD officers on Skid Row, spoke to Eyewitness News about the moment they found out about his death.

Two months ago, Keunang got into a confrontation with LAPD officers. Authorities said he attempted to reach for an officer's holstered gun, which prompted the other officers to shoot him.

His mother and sister said they were shocked by the footage on television, but did not know it was him until relatives from Cameroon called two days later.

Keunang's mother said she was devastated to find out about her son's death. She had gone to the morgue to see his body and said he was shot six times.

"He's gone. He's gone," his sister Line Marquise Foming, said in her native French.

Keunang was her younger brother. She said she wants to paint the proper picture of her sibling, who was a loving, protecting person - not the man police say was a homeless ex-convict who provoked the violent encounter.

She said her brother was getting documents together to return to Cameroon to be with his family. But it is a reunion that will never happen.