Los Angeles Police Department officer Salvador Sanchez now faces a manslaughter charge in connection with a 2019 Costco shooting that left an intellectually disabled man dead and critically wounded his parents.
According to a felony complaint filed in California Superior Court in Riverside on Thursday, Sanchez is charged with alleged voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic handgun in connection with the shooting of 32-year-old Kenneth French and his parents, Russell and Paola, on June 14, 2019, while they were shopping at a Costco in Corona. Sanchez said after the shooting that he thought French, who was unarmed, had a firearm in his hand.
The reversal comes nearly two years after a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the off-duty cop at the conclusion of local proceedings.
“Ultimately, any loss of life is a tragedy and being licensed to carry a gun doesn’t mean you’re not accountable for how you use it,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement regarding his office’s independent review of the case. “No matter who you are, nobody is above the law.”
Sanchez was arrested in Riverside County on Monday.
