Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed an armed 80-year-old man as they served a search warrant on a marijuana grow operation at a remote multi-unit rural property in the desert community of Littlerock at 7.30am on 27 June 2013.[1] The as yet unnamed man, later identified as retired engineer Eugene Mallory, became the 19th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations that year.[1][2]
Deputies entered the home through an unlocked front door and one deputy fired when they encountered Mallory with a handgun; the department later said he had pointed a semi-automatic handgun at them.[1] The warrant had been obtained after an anonymous tip alleging methamphetamine production and a detective’s claim of smelling chemicals near the property, but officers found no methamphetamine on the property.[3] What they did find was marijuana and marijuana growing equipment, including two marijuana plants said to belong to Mallory’s stepson, who claimed a medical marijuana recommendation.[1][2][3] Other residents of the property’s units were detained and later released.[1]
Mallory’s family and friends disputed the official account, saying the 80-year-old would never point a gun at an officer, and pressed the Los Angeles County district attorney to investigate the shooting.[2] Investigators later found Mallory’s body in his bed with heavy bloodstains on the mattress, and a recording showed a deputy’s warning to drop the gun came after the shots rather than before, prompting the deputies to revise their account.[3] Mallory’s widow filed a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging constitutional violations over the killing.[3]
