UPDATE 8:30pm: A cousin of the victim addressed Police Chief Charlie Beck during the public comment portion of the meeting, asking, "Why did highly skilled officers have to shoot him?"

He asked Beck why, when police officers are trained to talk down terrorists and gang members, they shot one man. 

In response, Beck said, "We don't train officers to disarm people with knives."

Manuel Jamines was holding a switchblade when he was fatally shot by police on Sunday. A photo of that switchblade was on display at the community meeting Wednesday.

"Why are you displaying a picture of the knife and not the gun?" one commenter asked. "It implies it was the victim's fault he died."

Beck said the picture of the knife was on display because many people have called the shooting unjust. 

"The victim was engaged in a crime at the time," he said. Beck added that until he is satisfied with the initial stages of the investigation, the officer involved in the shooting will not be on duty.

Another attendee alleged that Beck had 15 witness statements from the shooting, and wanted them all to be read.

Beck read one witness statement, which he said was from a woman in the community that everybody would know. The woman had been waiting a crosslight near 6th Street and Union Street.

The woman told police that she saw the suspect arguing with another man. A few minutes later the suspect approached her with a bloody knife in a bleeding hand, she said. The suspect tried to twice stab the woman and also attempted to twice stab a pregnant woman near her. The pregnant woman and her children ran across the street. The woman soon followed them and heard officers fire three to four shots. She said her in statement that the officers were "her angels sent from heaven."

Many in the crowd reacted poorly to the reading of the statement. One man said a Hollywood writer must have written the statement for Beck.

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Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck did not receive a warm reception in Westlake on Wednesday night, when about 300 people turned out to John H. Liechty Middle School to discuss the fatal police shooting of Manuel Jamines, a Guatemalan day laborer, on Sunday. 

LAPD hosted the community meeting near where Jamines was shot to address concerns that police had used unnecessary force. The officer-involved shooting has sparked protests, including one Tuesday night that resulted in 22 arrests.

Councilman Ed Reyes opened the meeting, and was followed by Police Commissioner Robert Saltzman, who talked about the commission's role as an independent monitor of the LAPD.

When Beck took the podium at the meeting, people in the crowd began booing and chanting "justicia." One person asked Beck, "When are you going to respect us?"

Beck responded that he hoped people had come to the meeting for discussion. 

He then went on to read an official statement, saying that the suspect had tried to stab a number of people before he was shot by officers. The booing resumed. 

About 30 people lined up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. One speaker asked Beck, "Why does LAPD only kill Hispanics, blacks and minorities?" Beck did not respond. 

Not all of the comments attacked the LAPD, however. One woman, an immigrant and a resident of Westlake, said, "You can't go around calling people assassins. Police officers aren't monsters."

Despite the booing and chanting, those in attendance were mostly calm and attentive. LAPD stationed a number of officers outside the school, but there were no major incidents before the meeting began. During the meeting, one attendee made racially charged comments that angered those around her, but LAPD officers in riot gear quickly escorted her from the room. 

Those who attended the meeting were handed literature representing all sides of the debate. LAPD issued a press release defending its officers, while several Hispanic-American groups handed out fliers saying Jamines was "viciously killed" and calling people to join a March for Justice on Sept. 25. A group called the Coordinated Guatemalean Organizations of LA also handed out fliers calling for more attention to be paid to the human rights of Guatemalan migrants.

 

Additional coverage of Wednesday's meeting:

Will LAPD Give Public Transparency In Westlake Shooting Investigation?

Los Angeles Residents Voice Their Frustrations With LAPD

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Reach executive producer Paresh Dave here. Follow him on Twitter @peard33.

Reach staff reporter Taylor Freitas here.