LA County deputy mistakes mentally ill BM for carjacker, executes him

Robert Alexander had a lengthy criminal record and no fixed address.

Donnell Thompson was a fan of Michael Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers and attended classes for the mentally disabled at El Camino College.

Early on a July morning, the two strangers’ lives intersected in tragic fashion.

Alexander stole a Honda Civic at gunpoint and opened fire on sheriff’s deputies in Compton before disappearing into the neighborhood, authorities said.

As Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies searched for Alexander, they found Thompson and mistook him for the carjacking suspect, shooting him dead.

The Sheriff’s Department initially characterized Thompson, 27, as a second suspect in the carjacking. But on Tuesday, sheriff’s officials corrected themselves, saying he had nothing to do with the crime and the assault on the deputies.
Thompson did not respond to commands to show his hands, to stand up or to put his hands behind his head, sheriff’s officials said. SWAT deputies arrived and repeated the commands, but Thompson remained motionless, lying on his side with his left hand underneath his head and his right hand under his midsection, Katz and Corina said.

Even when the SWAT deputies set off “flash-bang” explosives, Thompson was unresponsive. Only when he was hit with foam bullets did he rouse himself, pushing himself onto his feet and “bolting” toward an armored vehicle, Corina said.
Deputies at the scene reported that Thompson had his right hand at his waistband as he was running, Katz said.

A SWAT deputy in the turret of the vehicle fired at Thompson with an M4 rifle, striking him twice in the upper torso, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The SWAT team was well protected from gunfire by the armored vehicles, but the deputy shot Thompson out of concern that he would run into the neighborhood and harm residents, Corina said.