LAPD Rules Officer's Death An Accident As Family Alleges Foul Play

NORTHRIDGE, CA —The death of Los Angeles Police Department Officer Houston Tipping, who was killed during a police training exercise in May, was an accident, a Los Angeles Police Department inquiry concluded Tuesday. However, an attorney for the officer’s family doubled down on allegations this week that Tipping may have been targeted for being a potential whistleblower.

Tipping died on May 29 — three days after he injured his spinal cord during a training exercise at Elysian Park Academy, according to the department.

The department’s review consisted of witness accounts, the coroner's report, the incident scene, physical evidence, department documents and standards for training, Director of the LAPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy Lizabeth Rhodes said in her report to the LAPD Commission Tuesday. Just as the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner concluded in July, the Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy also ruled Tipping's death an accident.

The LAPD and the coroner determined Tipping's neck and cervical injuries were a result of the training accident, but other injuries such as the rib fractures were a result of emergency aid.

The department did not address many of the claims made by Bradley Gage, an attorney representing Tipping’s family.

Rhodes did, however, address Gage’s speculation that the training scenario involved a simulated mob. She said the training scenario only involved Tipping and one other person.

The Training

Tipping was an instructor for a training scenario in which he played the aggressor, grappling with a student officer with a bicycle, according to the LAPD. During the simulated scuffle, Tipping fell to the ground and injured his spinal cord, according to the LAPD.

But Tipping's mother Shirley Huffman suspects otherwise. She alleged in a legal claim filed with the city that her son was beaten by other officers during a simulated mob training exercise. "Intentional assaults and batteries" against Tipping resulted in a broken neck, paralysis in all four limbs and heart stoppage, Huffman claims.

The department on Tuesday offered its first detailed description of the training scenario.

Tipping was an instructor for a five-day bike training course, Rhodes said. His injuries happened during the one-on-one training scenario. According to Rhodes, Tipping and the student bike officer were chosen at random for that particular scenario.

The two were expected to roleplay a scenario involving an aggressor confronting a bicycle officer. Tipping played the aggressor. The student officer would only be armed with a foam baton and would not be expected to take the fake suspect into custody, Rhodes said.

Tipping was wearing a ballistic vest, pads on his legs, boxing gloves and a mouthguard, according to the department’s report. The student officer wore a ballistic vest and an empty utility belt with an imitation firearm.

According to the LAPD, Tipping walked quickly toward the student officer, who was behind a bike. Tipping put his leg onto the bike, and the student struck Tipping's leg with the foam baton. Tipping then signaled the student had successfully subdued him by getting down on one knee.

After the student moved backward, Tipping got up again and the two veered off from the center of the room before shifting back.

Once back in place, the scenario was stopped one additional time because the student officer had not started the drill correctly.

The training scenario was restarted once again, and Tipping lifted the student from the ground while moving toward him, with his head tucked against the student’s torso. The student put his arm around the back of Tipping's neck, wrapping toward the front of Tipping's throat, according to the LAPD.

Witnesses and the student were not totally clear on the arm placement when the two fell, nor were they sure why Tipping had lifted the student off the ground. He had been instructed not to initiate any floor grappling, but some witnesses said he was clearly engaged in a takedown. Others said Tipping could have simply lost his balance, according to the department’s report.

"As the two fell to the floor, Officer Tipping's neck remained in that grasp," Rhodes said. "When the officers landed on the ground, the witnessing officers immediately noticed that Officer Tipping's body movements seemed unusual and he appeared to be struggling to speak."

Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioner Dale Bonner asked Rhodes to clarify whether the student officers' arm motion was an attempted restraint or a reactive gesture. Rhodes said it was not totally clear why the incident transpired as it did.

"It was an incredibly short and fast incident," said Rhodes. "The course actually says that there should be no custodial confinement or anything. I am not trying to not answer your question, but it's not clear why things happened in the blink of an eye."

Moore said the placement of the student's motion implies it was reactive — a restraining arm motion would have wrapped around the front of Tipping's neck, he said.

The family’s attorney claimed the training did not have proper safety measures. He also contends there should have been a department-mandated video or, at least, officers' personal videos — from the incident.

One of Rhodes recommendations to the commission was for training sites to be evaluated for their ability to safely accommodate training scenarios.

"There was another [training scenario] that an individual started to fall over a wall and that may have been an inappropriate place to hold that training," Rhodes said.

It was not clear whether other investigations are underway even as the Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy released its findings Tuesday.

At a previous news conference, Gage disputed Chief Michel Moore's recap of the incident. He contends the injuries show Tipping was intentionally beaten. He accused the department of coverup.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore called the allegations “baseless” in a Tweet responding to a media report about Gage’s claims.