Photo: Lyons in court (CBS)
WILLOWBROOK – When two deputies had responded to a June 6, 2019 call to an apartment complex, the incident escalated rapidly. First, the deputies exited their vehicle in order to approach a parked vehicle.
Ryan Twyman (24) was in the car. Once Twyman put the car in reverse, the deputies opened fire.
The car came to a nearby stop. One of the officers allegedly retrieved his semiautomatic assault rifle and shot into the vehicle after it stopped moving. Twyman was killed. His passenger wasn’t injured.
The officer, Andrew Lyons (dob 5/10/84) was charged in case BA503497 with one felony count of voluntary manslaughter and two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
When Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was charged for the on-duty fatal shooting of an unarmed man in his vehicle three years ago, he added, “Protecting public safety is the highest responsibility for the entire law enforcement community. That extends first and foremost to those sworn to protect it,” District Attorney Gascón said.
Gascon added a final comment about the case, which remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department: “Policing is a difficult and trying job, but it does not excuse anyone from accountability under the law—especially when a human life is lost.”
