Javier Orantez Chavez, 30

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Javier Orantez Chavez, 30, a Latino man, was shot by police during a gun battle in near pitch darkness at 3608 W. 30th St. about 8:55 p.m. Saturday, April 14, and died at the scene.

Police gave this account: Two LAPD Metropolitan officers spotted Orantez Chavez riding down the street on a skateboard and apparently reaching for something in his waistband. Suspecting a weapon, they attempted to stop him.

He jumped off his skateboard and ran between two houses. The officers followed; as they turned a corner in the dark, Orantez Chavez fired at them. Both officers, Officer Auston Price, 44, and Officer Joseph Goosby, 29, fired back. After shooting, the pair moved forward and found Orantez Chavez dead on the ground. A .357 revolver, ammunition and a ‘very expensive’ camera were found in his possession. Police said he was wearing a holster for the revolver--a rarity in the annals of South Los Angeles crime. Orantez Chavez was not a documented gang member, though he had a conspicuous gang-name tattoo on one hand, police said. His rap sheet consisted only of a burglary nearly a decade ago.