Angel Montion, 33

Angel Montion, a 33-year-old Latino, was shot and killed by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy on Wednesday, March 30, in the 6400 block of Northside Drive in East Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County coroner records.

Montion was a suspect in a March 19 kidnapping and assault that happened about 9:50 a.m. on Saturday, March 19, in the 300 block of North Rowan Avenue in East Los Angeles said Lt. Joe Mendoza. A surveillance camera captured part of the the kidnapping, and the video has been widely circulated.  

In the video, a man in a dark shirt holding a gun strikes a man wearing a light shirt in the head, knocking him to the sidewalk. When the victim stumbles to his feet, he tries to escape into a business, but the gunman runs after him with his weapon drawn and then walks him out of the camera’s view, apparently with the gun pressed into his back.  

Mendoza said that the next day, a man identified himself as the victim in the video and Montion as the man in the dark shirt. 

On March 30, Sheriff's Department investigators tried to detain Montion as he was walking in the 300 block of Via Vista Street in Montebello, Mendoza said. Montion fled on foot, he said, then entered a house in the 6400 block of Northside Drive. 

Deputies surrounded the block where Montion disappeared to begin a search about 10 a.m., when a woman drove out of the containment area, Mendoza said. The woman told deputies that a man she didn’t know had just entered her home.

Mendoza said investigators worked for hours trying to get Montion to leave the home, shouting commands via loudspeaker, bringing in the department’s Crisis Negotiation Team and even shooting tear gas canisters into the house.

“None of that worked,” Mendoza said. “We know he made a call, but not to law enforcement. We think he was talking to his girlfriend.”

About 3:25 p.m., Montion walked out of the house, allegedly with a handgun behind his back, Mendoza said. 

“It appeared he was looking around, trying to acquire a target, and then he brings his hand down to his side, with a handgun in his hand, and begins to walk to where some containment deputies were from our SWAT team.”

At that point, Mendoza said, another SWAT Team member shot Montion multiple times in the upper torso.  

Neither the deputies nor Montion spoke before the shooting, Mendoza said. “It just happened real quick, in a manner of seconds. He had been given commands all along to come out with his hands up and unarmed, but there was no conversation at all between him and and deputies.”

Montion was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:37 p.m., according to coroner’s records. 

A black, large caliber, semi-automatic handgun was found next to Montion after he was shot, Mendoza said. The gun was loaded but hadn’t been fired, he said. 

The name of the deputy who opened fire has not been released. 

Mendoza said the man who appeared to be kidnapped on March 19 had some cuts on his upper torso, but was otherwise uninjured. Details about that incident are not available, he said, because the case is still under investigation. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.