Officer Cleared in Fatal Shooting of 14-Year-Old

The Los Angeles Police Commission has ruled that last July’s fatal shooting of a 14-year-old youth did not violate department policy, according to a report given behind closed doors to the City Council on Friday.

Sources said the department has cleared Officer Michal A. Falvo of any wrongdoing in the Lincoln Heights killing, which touched off two days of rock- and bottle-throwing in the neighborhood. Falvo, one of the 44 officers identified in the 1991 Christopher Commission report as having a history of using excessive force, shot Jose Antonio Gutierrez four times.

Falvo and other police officers at the scene say that Gutierrez pointed a gun at Falvo, but forensic tests were inconclusive. Commissioners told City Council members Friday that there are no civilian witnesses who confirmed the officers’ account.

The Gutierrez family has filed a lawsuit against the city.