Christian Chavez Avelar, a 40-year-old Latino man, died on November 27, 2017, in South Gate, California, after a prolonged standoff with police. The incident began the day before when Avelar assaulted his live-in girlfriend with a handgun; she was hospitalized and officers obtained a warrant for his arrest. On the evening of November 27 the girlfriend told police she believed he was nearby and officers found Avelar sitting in his parked truck on Illinois Avenue near his home.

Avelar refused to exit the vehicle and the standoff lasted several hours. Officers tried to communicate with him by cellphone and deployed non-lethal tools including bean bags, tear gas, and flash bangs. He was seen drinking and smoking inside the truck. Around 10:41 p.m. Avelar began shooting at officers; five South Gate officers and one Huntington Park officer returned fire, striking him multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:15 p.m. A handgun was recovered from the truck and ballistics testing was performed. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated and classified the death as a justifiable homicide; no officers were injured and no arrests were made.

If anyone witnessed the standoff or has relevant information about what happened that evening, please share what was seen or heard.