Pasadena Police Chief Philip Sanchez said that call set off a deadly chain of events that led officers to shoot and kill a 19-year-old college student, later identified as Kendrec McDade, late on Saturday night.
McDade was spotted in an alley about two blocks from the spot where Oscar Carrillo told police he'd been robbed, Sanchez said Wednesday.
"The actions of the 911 caller set the minds of the officers," Sanchez said.
McDade ran from officers until an officer used the police cruiser to block McDade's path in an alley and rolled down his window, Lt. Phlunte Riddle said.
McDade allegedly made a motion at his waistband and the officer opened fire. A second officer who was chasing McDade on foot also opened fire, Riddle said.
McDade, who was less than 10 feet away from the patrol car when the officer opened fire, died of his injuries at Huntington Hospital. The Citrus College student was a football standout at Azusa High School.
In an interview Monday with detectives, Sanchez said Carrillo admitted that he made up the story about the gun to speed up the officers' response. Detectives now believe McDade and the other person, a juvenile, were unarmed, Riddle said.
Carrillo was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the officer-involved shooting, Sanchez said.
Sanchez said video from a security camera shows the two young men were involved in the theft of a backpack from Carrillo's car, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sanchez alleged that McDade was a lookout in the theft.
The juvenile co-suspect was charged with two counts of commercial burglary, one count of grand theft and one count of failure to register as a gang member as a condition of his probation, Sanchez said. He remains in custody.
