Video shows Los Angeles police officer firing gun during struggle with teens

ANAHEIM - A Los Angeles policeman is under investigation after a video appears to show him firing a single round during an off-duty tussle with a 13-year-old boy.

No one was injured but two teenagers were arrested after the incident, which spurred dozens of people to protest against police Wednesday night in Anaheim, where the officer lives and the confrontation occurred.

There had been problems with teens walking across the officer’s lawn and the boy apparently believed the officer had cursed a teenage girl who had done so on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

That’s when the 13-year-old spoke up, a witness said.

“The little kid said, ‘I’m going to sue you,’ and then the guy thought he said, ‘I’m going to shoot you.’ That’s when he started grabbing the little kid,” Gregory Perez, 16, told the Orange County Register.

A video posted on YouTube shows the officer struggling with the boy, who repeatedly denies he threatened to shoot and at one point says “Let me go...I’m only 13.”

The officer, who is gripping the boy’s hoodie, hauls him over the lawn, still struggling and protesting.

A taller youth steps in and tries to break the officer’s grip. Another youth rushes the officer and he stumbles back through a small hedge, still holding the 13-year-old.

The taller youth then takes a swing at the officer. Other teens approach and the officer - still gripping the 13-year-old with one hand - pulls a gun from his waistband, crouches, and a shot is heard.

Witnesses said the officer “did not discharge the gun toward anyone,” Anaheim Sgt. Daron Wyatt told KNX-AM radio.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threat and battery, while a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery and later released, Anaheim police said.