WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA–Initial reports from a stabbing incident that occurred in West Hollywood last Monday tried to depict the LA County Sheriff’s Department justified in shooting 30-year-old John Winkler. Original reporting stated that the man shot was a 24-year-old, and used misleading language surrounding the circumstances of the shooting by police.
According to an ABC affiliate, when deputies arrived at the apartment, they were confronted by two men who were leaving the residence. Police said in a press release that, “the men aggressed the deputies,” and that Winkler was the possible assailant. Subsequent knowledge has contradicted the original statement.
Winkler, a freelance production assistant for Comedy Central’s “Tosh.0,” was “hanging out” with an unidentified man when Alexander McDonald, a computer programmer with no violent history, climbed over the balcony into his own apartment. McDonald, a roommate of one of the victims, allegedly held Winkler and two others at knifepoint, and then began stabbing the me.
When deputies responded to an “assault with a deadly weapon, man with a knife” call at the apartment complex, they were looking for a suspect that had been described as a thin, white male wearing a black shirt.
“As deputies continued attempts to contact the people in the apartment, the apartment door suddenly opened and a male victim came rushing out. He was covered in blood and bleeding profusely from the neck,” said the Sheriff’s Department in a press release.
Police say Winkler followed, “lunging at the back” of the bleeding victim. “Lunging” implies Winkler was being aggressive, but he was attempting to help the unidentified man, as well as escape from McDonald.
“Believing Winkler was the assailant and the assault was ongoing and he would attack the entry team; three deputies fired their duty weapons at him. Victim Winkler was struck by the gunfire and fell to the floor, and the male victim also collapsed; struck once by the gunfire.”
Once police got around to actually entering the apartment, they discovered an additional victim and McDonald fighting on the living-room floor. The Sheriff’s Department stated McDonald was choking the victim and tearing at his face. “Deputies could see the victim was about to go unconscious and a large knife was on the floor near them,” the Sheriff’s Department said. Deputies then subdued McDonald, who was taken into custody without further incident.
During a news conference Thursday night, Interim Sheriff John Scott called the shooting a “tragic event,” and that he has, “no doubt the entire Sheriff’s Department mourns the death of John Winkler.”
“We don’t know what caused his outburst,” Scott said about McDonald. “We don’t know if he was under the influence or having some kind of psychotic episode.”
McDonald has pled not guilty to the charges against him, which include one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of torture. His bail has been raised from $2 million to $4.1 million.
As per usual, the three deputies who murdered Winkler will not be facing any charges. All are longtime officers with the Sheriff’s Department. After being removed from patrol after shooting Winkler, all will be returning to full duty next week.
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