Riverside County prosecutors weigh charges in killing of disabled man

LOS ANGELES — The Riverside County district attorney’s office is reviewing whether to criminally charge an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer for fatally shooting a 32-year-old man with an intellectual disability and wounding his parents in an altercation at a Costco store in Corona.

John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney, said prosecutors got the case from Corona police last week. The June 14 shooting left Kenneth French dead and his parents wounded.

Typically, such an investigation involving police officers takes months. But with a growing debate over the shooting, Corona’s police chief publicly said he is prioritizing the investigation and his detectives were reviewing evidence including security videos and interviewing witnesses.

The LAPD officer, identified by multiple sources as Salvador Sanchez, is a seven-year patrol officer. He was shopping with his family at a Costco store in Corona, carrying his young son in his arms. Nearby, a couple were roaming the aisle with their adult son, who family members and their attorney have said has an intellectual disability. The two families came together at a food sample line at the warehouse store when an altercation erupted, ending with gunfire from the officer.

Two sharply different accounts have emerged. Officials said there was video showing part of the encounter, but that video has not been released.

The officer’s attorney, David Winslow, said his client was getting a food sample for his son when he was attacked and briefly knocked out by French.

“He was shopping with his wife and 1½-year-old at Costco. His son was in his arms, and he was feeding his son some samples when, within seconds, he was on the ground and woke up from being unconscious and he was fighting for his life,”...