County District Attorney’s Office Friday morning for review. On February 21, 2017, Kevin Ferguson discharged his firearm in the presence of numerous juveniles in the 1600 block of W. Palais Ave. Ferguson discharged his firearm one time and nobody was struck by the gunfire. Initial reports indicated Ferguson had confronted a group of juveniles who had repeatedly walked across his lawn. It was alleged a 13-year-old boy threatened to shoot Ferguson, at which time he tried to detain the boy. As the incident progressed, numerous bystanders became involved, some of who videotaped portions of the incident with cell phones. As the crowd grew and advanced towards Ferguson, he discharged his firearm once into the ground. The crowd scattered and APD officers arrived shortly thereafter.
Videos of the incident were posted on the internet and social media and quickly went viral. The incident led to two days of civil unrest in Anaheim, which resulted in a press conference being held on February 23rd at Anaheim Police headquarters. During the press conference, Chief Quezada stated he hoped the investigation would be completed and presented to the DA’s office within two weeks. However, he also promised a complete and thorough investigation. It quickly became evident the case was far more complex, and with videos of the incident surfacing from many different perspectives, individuals were shown who needed to be identified and interviewed. Only recently have APD detectives felt confident that everyone who needed to be interviewed, had been contacted.
In all, several hundred-labor hours of investigative effort have been dedicated to this investigation. More than 90 interviews have been completed, numerous videos have been collected and viewed, and many items of evidence have been submitted and processed. The investigative case file consists of over 400 pages of reports and approximately 70 CDs and DVDs. Detectives from the Anaheim Police Department Homicide Detail will maintain communication with the District Attorney’s office as their review moves forward.
The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting its own internal investigation into Ferguson’s actions.
