REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — The gunman killed in Wednesday’s shooting in Redondo Beach, in which two people were wounded, has been identified. Kenneth Vessell, of Long Beach, shot and injured two people on Aug. 25, in what investigators believe was a random act, before being killed by local police.
Officers responded to multiple 911 calls reporting shots fired at the Redondo Pier around 8:20 p.m. Upon arriving at the scene, officers shot Vessell, who then fled toward a rocky embankment separating the pier’s parking structure and sidewalk from a small beach. After setting up a perimeter around the pier area, officers found Vessell dead from his injuries, along with a handgun and a knife.
The two people who were wounded by Vessell, one adult and one juvenile, were treated by local hospitals and have since been released. Authorities believe the shooting is a random act and have found no connection between the victims and Vessell.
People close to Vessell reached by Spectrum News 1 have confirmed that Vessell had a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, though they believe he was not taking his medication at the time of the shooting.
In 2013, Vessell was shot by undercover LAPD officers in Harbor City; officers, suspicious of his dark clothing, attempted to detain him on suspicion of robbery and shot him when he pointed an object at officers — later found to be a bottle of alcohol.
Vessell was charged with resisting arrest, though that was later dismissed. Vessell was later unsuccessful in a civil lawsuit accusing the LAPD officers of excessive force.
“Officers tend to confuse erratic behavior with defiant behavior,” said Ian Wallach, Vessell’s attorney in the civil lawsuit, who spoke generally, not knowing the facts of the Redondo shooting.
An investigation by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department into the lawfulness of the shooting by Redondo police is ongoing.