D.A. Exonerates Officer in Fatal Shooting

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has cleared a Los Angeles police officer who fatally shot an 18-year-old Pacoima man last year, saying in a report that the officer’s use of lethal force against Efrain Lopez “cannot be shown to be legally unreasonable.”

In declining to file criminal charges against Officer Neil Goldberg, the investigating prosecutor cited eyewitnesses who said Lopez kept advancing toward police, wildly swinging a broomstick, despite repeated orders to stop. Police also fired warning shots.

“Many of the civilian eyewitnesses we interviewed expressed some degree of dislike for the Los Angeles Police Department,” the report said. “At the same time, however, they commended the officers’ conduct and have stated publicly . . . that the officers acted reasonably and had no choice but to shoot Lopez.”

The death--and the fact that Goldberg shot Lopez nine times--prompted an outcry from civil rights leaders, who questioned whether the incident was an example of excessive force against minorities.

Lopez was killed Nov. 9 after police were summoned to the 13000 block of Eustace Street about 1 a.m. Moments earlier, Lopez had attacked his mother and several neighbors, declared he was both Jesus Christ and Satan, and threatened to kill his 10-month-old sibling.