US police kill unarmed African American

Sat Jan 15, 2011 Press TV

Reginald Doucet Jr., 25, was killed outside his condo.

Police in the western area of Los Angeles have shot to death an unarmed African American former college football player, after receiving a disturbance call, reports say.

The victim Reginald Doucet Jr., 25, a former defensive back at El Camino College and Middle Tennessee State University was shot outside his condominium building in Playa Vista after two patrol officers found him “yelling and behaving erratically,” an LAPD statement said.

He had reportedly got into an argument with his cab driver who had brought him home from a rooftop nightclub in Hollywood. The driver and nearby resident had called the police.

The officers, who arrived at the scene a little past 3 a.m. and were confronted by a yelling African American, claim they tried to talk the man into putting his clothes on. At some point a scuffle ensued, causing one of the officers to shot the man twice.

Doucet was pronounced dead immediately after arriving at a nearby hospital.

Friends describe the man they call "Reggie" as a hyper-focused person. Whether it was sports or grades, he never let anything stop him, the Central Coast News reported.

The victim's neighbor, Chris Ellison, said “the former quarterback for Middle Tennessee State University was never violent in the seven years they were neighbors."

“Maybe he was belligerent, I don't know, but I have never seen him drunk. Never. Violent? Never," he said.

Civil rights activists have called for the review of the officers' policy when dealing with intoxicated or mentally disturbed people.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Roundtable and Eddie Jones of the Los Angeles Civil Rights Association have reportedly scheduled a news conference on Saturday to discuss the shooting and urge Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck to review Los Angeles Police Department policies .