The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has identified a man who was shot and killed by a deputy after an altercation in front of the Macy’s at the Valencia mall.
Christopher Lee Mercurio, 50, who was identified by the coroner’s office as a transient, was shot outside the department store at Westfield Valencia Town Center around 10:50 p.m. Jan. 10.
Officials with the Sheriff’s Information Bureau indicated that deputies responded to the scene after receiving a report that someone was trespassing. One of the deputies who responded got into a physical altercation with Mercurio, which preceded the shooting, according to Deputy Brenda Serna of SIB.
A Nixle release from the Sheriff’s Department indicated the deputy was taken to a local hospital, treated and released as of 6:35 a.m. the morning after the shooting.
An email Friday from the Sheriff’s Information Bureau referred further inquiry — including the deputy’s status within the department — to the California Department of Justice.
The state’s Department of Justice, which looks into all officer-involved shootings of unarmed individuals by mandate of Assembly Bill 1506, has an open investigation into the shooting listed on its website: oag.ca.gov/ois-incidents/current-cases.
A representative with the Department of Justice was not immediately available Friday to answer questions regarding the status of the agency’s investigation.
