By Savannah Dewberry and Alan Vargas
LOS ANGELES, CA – The clock had not yet struck noon on Hollywood Boulevard before shots rang out in the morning of July 15.
While responding to a 911 call about a man “armed with a gun,” LAPD fatally shot a man near the famous tourist site. According to the information released by the LAPD, the male victim has not yet been identified, but was in his 40s or 50s.
A “replica handgun” was allegedly found near the scene, but the incident will now be investigated under Assembly Bill (AB) 1506.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has declared that the California Department of Justice would, according to AB 1506, survey and analyze probable criminal liability in the officer-involved shooting.
AB 1506 is a reasonably new bill signed on Sept. 30, 2020, and only just went into effect at the beginning of July. It requires the California Department of Justice to examine all fatal 
incidents of officer-involved shootings (OIS) of an unarmed individual in the state.
Historically, it came to be that an incident involving an officer shooting (OIS) resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian in the state was to be managed by local law enforcement agencies and the 58 district attorneys.
“As we work to gather all of the facts, I’m grateful to the LAPD for their ready collaboration and quick and committed efforts to work with us on the ground,” said Bonta in a press release Friday. “Now, more than ever, we must work together in the spirit of this new law to build and maintain trust in our criminal justice system for all of our communities.”
In maintaining that trust factor following AB 1506, the California Department of Justice will provide and make public a written report describing the facts behind the continuous investigation—including analysis, explanation, and or determining if criminal charges are applicable in this matter.
Considering the following information, no detailed report has been published because of the ongoing scrutinizing investigation and the possible fear of having criminal liability in this officer-involved shooting. However, further details remain to be evaluated and revealed.
Though this investigation is still pending, officer-involved shootings are not unusual for California residents. Over the past years, there have been more officer-involved shootings in California than in most states.
According to research done by Laurel Rosenhall, “Only a dozen states have a population of at least 8 million people. And among those states, California’s rate of police shootings is by far the highest.” (Rosenhall)
Alongside LAPD, the California Department of Justice is examining the incident. Once the investigation is completed, it will be turned over to the California Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review.
