Half-brother of Robert Fuller, who was found hanged from a tree, shot dead by deputies after he opened fire
ROSAMOND, CALIFORNIA: The half-brother of Robert Fuller, the African-American man who was found hanging from a tree near Palmdale City Hall, was killed in a shootout with Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, it was reported.
Terron Jammal Boone was shot dead this past Wednesday, June 17, in Rosamond, just north of the Los Angeles County border, after authorities said he opened fire on them, according to the Daily Mail.
Boone had been charged on Tuesday with assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, domestic violence and criminal threat after a woman had called the police a few days earlier to report that he had held her against her will. She said he had demanded information about Fuller's death.
Detectives had been tracking him ever since and had tried to stop his car when they found him on 15th Street West, only for Boone to open the passenger door and start shooting at them. Lt. Robert Westphal, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, said deputies retaliated and fired back, hitting the suspect multiple times in the chest.
"Detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau were actively searching for a kidnap, spousal abuse, assault with a deadly weapon suspect," Westphal shared. "During the surveillance, they spotted who they believed to be the suspect. They followed the suspect for a while and attempted to do a traffic stop on the suspect. When the suspect stopped his vehicle, he opened the door and began shooting at the deputies and a deputy-involved shooting occurred."
He died at the scene, while a woman who was driving the SUV was wounded in the chest and transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A seven-year-old girl who was also in the vehicle was not injured, Sheriff's officials said.
The Sheriff's office confirmed that a shootout had taken place and that the suspect had been killed, but refused to reveal his identity. "We are aware of the reports that the suspect is possibly related to Robert Fuller, but at this time, the coroner has not positively identified the suspect and there has been no next of kin notification, so we're not in a position to confirm or deny that report," Westphal said.
However, the attorney representing Fuller's family confirmed the man killed in the incident was Fuller's half-brother. "This afternoon I had to notify the sisters of Robert Fuller that their half-brother Terron Jammal Boone was killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in Kern County," Jamon Hicks said.
"At this time, until we receive all of the information, the family and their legal team doesn't have any further comment on this incident. The family respectfully asks that their privacy be respected."
Jeffrey Thomas told NBC Los Angeles that Boone was his brother-in-law and that the woman and the young girl who were in his car are his sister and niece. "We're hurt, and we're angry. We're handling it the best way that we know how, and right now it’s in God's hands," he said. "I'm just glad and grateful that my sister is alive and that my niece is alive."
The Los Angeles Times reported that none of the detectives involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras and that investigators are currently trying to obtain footage of the incident from home surveillance systems in the area.