Councilman-Officer Under Fire in On-Duty Shooting

A Los Angeles police officer who is also an Inglewood city councilman was blasted by political rivals at a council meeting Tuesday in connection with the shooting and wounding of a homeless man in South Los Angeles.

Garland Hardeman, a first-term councilman who is facing reelection next Tuesday, shot Dennis Tate, 59, once in the leg after the man suddenly removed his hands from his pockets and allegedly lunged at Hardeman’s partner Saturday in an abandoned house on South Western Avenue, according to police. Tate, who was not charged in the incident, was found to be unarmed. The shooting is being investigated by the Police Department and district attorney’s office.

Ervin Thomas, one of three candidates opposing Hardeman, accused the officer of misjudgment as a councilman and as a police officer and called on him to resign. Calling Thomas’ comments a “very cheap shot,” Hardeman added: “The voters realize I’m in a very dangerous profession, and that things like this do occur.”