'Happy Hunting' Comment In Fatal SWAT Shooting Casts Shadow Over LAPD

Los Angeles CA

24 May, 2022

9:31 PM

Description

LOS ANGELES, CA — An LAPD officer's inappropriate remark captured on camera in the moments before SWAT officers shot and killed a man, has triggered a 10-year review of SWAT Team incidents, Police Chief Michel Moore announced Tuesday. The SWAT officer was captured on an officer's bodycam saying "happy hunting" to other officers as they arrived on the scene at a Downtown apartment building where a man had barricaded himself on May 3, Moore confirmed to the Los Angeles Police Commission Tuesday. Two other officers fatally shot the barricaded suspect. The troubling remark "does not constitute a crime," Moore told the commission. However, he added, the remark "constitutes an inappropriate comment or inappropriate remark, which is an administrative count of misconduct." Not only did the comment trigger an internal review, it rekindled suspicion about the SWAT Team's culture that ignited two years ago when a former team member filed a lawsuit alleging influential members known as the "Swat Mafia" glorify a culture of violence and the use of deadly force, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to the newspaper, Moore dismissed the claims in the lawsuit but said he was disturbed by the "happy hunting" comment. Now the SWAT team's handling of shootings and high-risk search warrants will be reviewed, he said. The current incident is being investigated by the department's internal affairs, which will review the officer's background within the SWAT unit, prior uses of force and performance. Police Commission President William Briggs reportedly called for the department's Inspector General to monitor the review, noting the parrel to allegations of deputy gangs in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. In the May 3 incident, two SWAT officers opened fire, killing the suspect, whom the Los Angeles Times identified as 54-year-old Leron James. Police told The Times that James fired a round at officers and officers returned fire. An LAPD Metropolitan Division commanding officer was reviewing body- worn camera footage from the incident when he discovered an officer, who did not fire at James, telling other officers "happy hunting" before the shots rang out. Moore told The Times the comment was made in the initial stages of the SWAT team responding to the scene, while officers were in the back end of a rescue vehicle. Moore told the commission Tuesday the officer was immediately removed from the field after the remark was discovered, and police initiated a misconduct investigation. "SWAT has my highest level of confidence, as well as my highest expectations of any tactical unit in the department. Reverence for human life remains our guiding principle in our use of force policy and our words and deeds must always represent that reverence," Moore said. City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.