Anger spilled out of a packed auditorium in Venice on Thursday night as residents and activists blasted Los Angeles police officials over an officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed homeless man.
The town hall meeting, convened two days after Tuesday night's deadly encounter, drew a standing-room-only crowd at Westminster Elementary School. People in the audience often shouted down the speakers, demanding to see a video of the shooting and be given the name of the officer who fired his gun.
"We are here to listen. We are not here to be the talking heads and pontificate to you," said Deputy Chief Bea Girmala, the top-ranking LAPD official in attendance. "We are here to listen."
When Girmala first mentioned the shooting, she was quickly interrupted by shouts of "murder!" from the crowd. "Say it!" one man said.
"I am not going to say that," Girmala replied. "The investigation is still ongoing."
Those in attendance were upset over the death of Brendon Glenn, 29, a New York native who had recently been living in Venice. But they also criticized the city for what many described as a lack of resources to help the neighborhood's homeless population and called for better training for LAPD officers who interact with the mentally ill.
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