New LAPD video shows the shooting of an unarmed teenager in South LA by a plainclothes police officer

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The LAPD has released a new video in connection with the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old by a plainclothes police officer in the Figueroa Corridor.

Ricardo Ramirez Jr., 18, of Richmond, California, was shot and killed by a vice sergeant on the night of July 13.

His family plans to sue the police, saying the teenager was unarmed and did not even know he was approaching an armed police officer that night.

According to the LAPD, the teenager was wearing a ski mask and was shot after the car he was in stopped and blocked lanes and two occupants got out and approached the other vehicle.

The sergeant who shot the teenager was not wearing a body camera, but the new footage includes surveillance video from nearby cameras as well as bodycam footage from officers who later responded.

The incident began as LAPD officers conducting an anti-prostitution operation in the Figueroa Corridor saw a silver Cadillac pull up in front of a Toyota Camry and the masked occupants engage in a heated exchange with those in the other vehicle.

The Toyota drove off.

As the Cadillac also left the scene of the accident, a vice sergeant followed it in an unmarked vehicle.

An officer’s voice can be heard over the radio saying, “Follow that car because they were all masked. Follow that car.”

The Cadillac soon stopped in a residential area near 66th and Flower Streets in South Los Angeles. It turned around and partially blocked the road so the occupants could get out.

One occupant approached the passenger side while another – later identified as Ramirez – approached the driver’s side of the unmarked police vehicle. Ramirez immediately falls to the ground after being shot once in the chest from inside the police vehicle.

The second man returned to the Cadillac, which fled the scene. Additional officers arrived at the scene and attempted to render medical aid to Ramirez until paramedics arrived. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Other LAPD officers and the CHP participated in a lengthy pursuit of the Cadillac that eventually ended with the driver surrendering on 15 northbound near 138 in San Bernardino County. The driver, Israel Dezama, 26, of Pittsburg, California, was arrested for felony eluding arrest. The other two occupants were questioned and released.

No weapons were found in the Cadillac or the Ramirez.

The family’s attorney says Ramirez and the others in the vehicle were driving near the Figueroa Corridor when they noticed a dark, unmarked vehicle with tinted windows following them. They say Ramirez got out of the car and held his palms up, asking why they were being followed, when he was shot in the chest.

“The shot came from inside the car, through glass. That means Ricky didn’t even have a chance to see anyone in the car pointing a gun at him, let alone someone he would have identified as a police officer,” attorney Christopher Dolan, who is representing the family, said last week.

The LAPD says the incident remains under investigation.

The LAPD video detailing the incident can be viewed on YouTube here.