Truthout: Carlos Oliva-Sola's Tragic End to an Ordinary Life: Killed by LA Police (feature story)

[Omaha Steve]

Olga Sola, holding a picture of her son. (Photo: Daniel Ross)


http://truth-out.org/news/item/28422-carlos-oliva-sola-s-tragic-end-to-an-ordinary-life-killed-by-la-police

Friday, 09 January 2015 11:56
By Daniel Ross, Truthout

At first, the reasons given by Sheriff's Deputies Anthony Forlano and Nicolas Castellanos for opening fire on Oliva-Sola appeared to tick all the requisite boxes. The deputies claimed that Oliva-Sola apparently matched the description of someone seen carrying a gun in the vicinity; that Forlano had felt a gun in Oliva-Sola's right pocket; and that, after a struggle between Forlano and their suspect, Oliva-Sola was reaching for his gun when they opened fire.

Oliva-Sola was found unarmed where he lay dying, though the deputies allege that they recovered a gun at the spot of a prior struggle. During the hours and days that followed, however, what had first appeared to be another grim though unremarkable entry into the chronicle of Los Angeles' crime history darkened into something more troubling.

Forlano had been involved in six separate, non-fatal shootings prior to killing Oliva-Sola. At least three of those incidents involved unarmed victims.

Witnesses describe Oliva-Sola being beaten on the ground prior to being shot - contradicting the deputies' story - while a grainy video of the shooting shows Oliva-Sola calling out helplessly as deputies open fire. What is more, Oliva-Sola's family struggles to believe that he was ever carrying a weapon. Neither family nor friends recall ever seeing Oliva-Sola with a gun, and because he had no gang affiliations and no history of gun violence, they wonder why he carried one on that particular night at that particular time, when returning home after visiting a friend.

Casting perhaps the gravest pall over the case is the matter of Forlano's own police record. He had been involved in six separate, non-fatal shootings prior to killing Oliva-Sola. At least three of those incidents involved unarmed victims. Forlano had also twice been removed from field duty; he had returned to field assignment the second time prior to shooting Oliva-Sola.

FULL story at link.