The family of a man who was shot and killed by LAPD is demanding answers and releasing video which they say contradicts what police say happened.
'It was an execution:' Cellphone video shows LAPD officers shooting man in back, family saysWednesday, April 8, 2026 2:20PM45-year-old man who was shot and killed by Los Angeles officers is demanding answers and releasing a video which they say contradicts what police say lead up to the deadly encounter.
Grief-stricken loved ones of Elias Real released cellphone video that they say captured the moment two LAPD officers opened fire as his back was turned and he appeared to be walking away. "They shot him from the back, and they kept shooting him after he was down," his sister, Alejandra Barragan, said during a press conference Tuesday. "It was an execution, that's what it was." The shooting unfolded just after 1 a.m. Friday near 111th Street and Van Buren Avenue in the Westmont area of South Los Angeles. A man who shot and injured somebody at a South Los Angeles gas station was then himself shot and killed by police officers early Friday morning. "At that time, they observed a suspect armed with a handgun. They gave him commands, but he refused to comply, at which point an officer-involved shooting occurred," Capt. Mike Bland said at the scene just hours after the shooting. Attorneys for Real's family say the cellphone video directly contradicts the LAPD's version of events. Authorities say officers were responding to reports of a victim struck by gunfire near Vermont Avenue and 115th Street. The shooter was described as a 45-year-old man wearing a black sweater and pants. While canvassing the area, police spotted Real, who they say fit the description of the suspected shooter. Police claim he was walking along the sidewalk, holding a handgun pointed to his head and that when he turned toward them, officers opened fire. His fiancée, Patty Venegas, says she was on the phone with him the entire time leading up to the deadly shooting. She said if anything, police misconstrued the phone that was at his ear as a weapon. "All he told me was 'I just want you to know whatever happens, I love you, okay, I love you, but they're gonna kill me.' I heard the officers in the background saying 'don't reach for that weapon, don't reach for that weapon'... And then I heard five to six shots and I heard him grunting every shot that he got."
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