Kevin Lind Wooten, 23

Dec. 27, 2010, 9:26 a.m.

Kevin Wooten, a 23-year-old black man, was shot and killed by a Los Angeles police officer Saturday, Dec. 25, in the 9900 block of Grape Street in Watts, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

LAPD officers were called to the Jordan Downs Housing Projects just before 4 a.m. after a report of an assault with a rifle. The officers were near an open field behind the housing area when they saw an occupied SUV adjacent to the field, police said.

While dealing with the people in that vehicle, they saw Wooten riding toward them on a bicycle. He was holding a rifle and ignored their commands, prompting them to shoot, police said.

Photo: LAPD detective Craig Kaul investigates the shooting Saturday morning. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times Wooten was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. According to coroner's records, he died from several gunshot wounds.

Police say an assault rifle was recovered at the scene. An investigation into the shooting has been launched, as is typical with officer-involved shootings.

-- Robert Faturechi

Photo: LAPD Det. Craig Kaul investigates the shooting Saturday morning. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Share a memory or thought about Kevin Lind Wooten

Before you post, here are some answers to frequently asked questions:

Remember, all posts are approved by a Times staffer. Profanity and personal attacks will not be approved.

50 reader comments

@ Sexy Baby..YOu wrote"For the ones that dont no kevin need to stfu yea it was 4 in the morning but everybody no kevin never sleep he be out all hours of the night. And yes he do go hunting at that time like always the police was up to no good that night and just happend to see kevin rolling by he will be miss Im more then a friend of kevins in he will always and forever be in my heart"...Police patrol throughout the night and if someone is breaking the law they will arrest or make decisions that are in the best interest of the public...I dont know Kevin personally but what I do know is this...Those who do not sleep at night are probably up selling dope or stealing if they are not working...Riding on a bicycle with an assault rifle at anytime of the day is foolish.(BTW you guys need to quit lying about him using an assault rifle for hunting..that makes no sense)...If he was out hunting anything it was the bounty hunter bloods...I'm not saying that anyone should have been killed but there are consequences for ever actions and in this case the consequence was fatal...hopefully in heaven he will have peace and be at peace...But let's not make him out to be a victim...he played a game and he lost

— FOol Nov. 14, 2011 at 12:23 p.m.

in this post im not going to talk about k-loc. im talking about the MORONS that keep giving excuses. I work in lawenforcment and i see ur kind every day, from the woman standing in line at the county jail at 4:00am to visit some damm fool 4 fifteen minutes, to the man who thinks he is so damm tough on the street,but once locked up ur a cry baby, u resort to begging or trying to take food from other inmates . so when the shoe on the other foot u start hollering about civil rights. u never think about other people civil rights. u dont think u should be held in the same context of law as others. so the way i see it what's good 4 the goose is good 4 the gander. i hope to see u all one day begging 4 peanut butter or visit. or at the very least visiting k-loc

— crazy legs Jan. 3, 2011 at 1:55 p.m.

— kev. dd. ... and just why was he carrying a high powered rifle at 4:00 in the morning in a neighborhood that has a lot of violent crime?

He was out to no good. He was out to kill someone. Don't pretend otherwise. For you, the abnormal is normal. To the law abiding and rational people of the world, we seem him for what he really was.

It would be no stretch of the imagination to say he was a gangster and you are one of the many enablers that allow this type of activity to happen.

As for the accusation that he was shot in the back ..... just wondering ..... where was that information published? Probably an often repeated blanket excuse by the gangsters and their enablers to put the blame on the police and not the individual.

— syscom3 Jan. 2, 2011 at 9:35 a.m.

It's amazing that you people can make excuses for this character...he was up to no good and luckily the police were there to stop that action...society never changes just the excuses...you can make all the excuses in the world but the bottome line is that at 4am anyone caught carrying an assault rifle should be arrested and if they dont comply with an order they should be shot down....I lived in Compton for over 20 years and I've seen these stupid acts over and over...I moved on and left all that to the ones that love to see that mess...this is why crime in certain communities can not and will not decrease...Watts being at the top of the list because all the people in the community make excuses for the illegal acts until it affects their family....

— former CPTer Dec. 31, 2010 at 9:33 p.m.

Yes he did have the rifle and was taking it to a different location for a hunting trip that morning. He was ordered to put the gun down which he did and was still shot. The police are trying to cover this up because the witnesses that were there was taking to the police station and told not to tell the family anything. Its was 4 days before they allowed the family to identify the body because the "Police" said there was an investigation going on. Aren't all murders under investigation still the family is able to identify the victim. Something is wrong with this killing. The family only knew it was him by hearsay the people who were at the scene at the time of the murder by cop. People speak just off of speculation not know the full story. RIP Kevin you will be truly missed.

— Justice Dec. 30, 2010 at 11:54 a.m.

I noticed Syscom3 from the OC and Meck, are the same troll. 50 years old, trolling the La Times and doesn't even reside in Los Angeles to speak. Too bad La Times loves to post his stuff, twice while leaving out our sincere educated comments. People love to jump to conclusions when they hear, Watts, projects, rifles and black man. Remember Sean Bell, and the cops went scott free? Maybe this was justified, but can't assume.

This should be investigated by an outside department. Very hard to shoot a RIFLE from a bicycle, believing a story without any actual facts, is dangerous. I'm a recreational shooter, this sounds like trigger happy cops again. What would cops do if they see a man with a rifle swung over his shoulder coming out the gun store? Shoot him? Long arms aren't illegal to open carry or conceal in a vehicle as long as it's unloaded. The rounds could of easily gone off after he fell. There are three sides to a story, the dead mans side, the cops side... and the truth.

— Montana Gold- Dec. 29, 2010 at 10:32 p.m.

The Homicide Report

Kevin Lind Wooten, 23

Share a memory or thought about Kevin Lind Wooten

50 reader comments