Police Kill 1 During Reported Attack by Party-Goers

An 18-year-old man was shot and killed at his mother’s surprise 41st birthday party by a Westminster policeman when officers pursuing a suspect were attacked by party-goers swinging fists and lawn furniture, authorities said Saturday.

Westminster police and district attorney’s investigators are looking into the Friday night shooting, and the three officers involved in the incident have been put on administrative leave for three days. Authorities refused to identify the officers.

Police said Saturday that the shooting occurred as the officers were trying to detain a man suspected of kidnaping two girls from a nearby vehicle in a gang-related fight. One of the officers was knocked down by a blow to the head and fired the fatal shot when he “looked up and saw an attacker coming at him,” according to a police statement.

But family members said Frank Anthony Martinez was shot as he was getting up from the ground after being chased by baton-swinging police officers, and they contend that the party-goers did not attack the officers but were victims of police brutality.

“That officer pointed straight at him, and a bullet went right through his heart,” Amanda Martinez said quietly as relatives and friends gathered to comfort her family. Her son, she said, was a basketball player at Westminster High School, where he was a senior, and coached sports at the local boys’ and girls’ club.