‘I want the officers in jail’ – family of Takar Smith speaks after funeral about LAPD shooting

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Family and friends honored Takar Smith Saturday, more than a month after he was shot and killed by Los Angeles police.

Shameka Smith had contacted police earlier in the day on Jan. 2 and asked for help with her estranged husband, saying he was suffering from mental illness and she had a restraining order against him.

Officers were involved in a confrontation with Takar in the kitchen of the home. They tried using Tasers to restrain him but at one point he grabbed a knife and then was shot by officers.

After the funeral for Smith in East Los Angeles, his wife and others spoke out at a news conference, saying they want justice.

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Shameka Smith says she contacted police that day hoping they could get him help.

“I want the officers in jail, OK?” said Shameka Smith. “They need to be in jail because they was not supposed to kill my husband. They was supposed to walk my husband out and take him to the mental institution. They were supposed to do just that and they failed me.”

The Smith family has previously said they want the city to pay for Takar’s burial costs and they are planning to file a lawsuit.

“We’re here for justice for my brother,” Takar’s brother Raischard Smith said at Saturday’s funeral. “There was no reason for the police to come out and shoot him like that. First of all, we need new policies. We demand new policies.”

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office says it’s waiting to receive the results of the police investigation.

The Takar Smith case is one of three fatal officer-involved shootings involving LAPD since the start of 2023.

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