TEEN'S DEATH STIRS EMOTIONS 13-YEAR-OLD THEFT SUSPECT LED POLICE ON CHASE.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

Some South Los Angeles residents reacted to the fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old alleged car thief with shock and anger Monday - and questioned whether it was justified.

Police fired 10 rounds into a car driven by Devin Brown after he led them on a 3 1/2-mile chase and then backed into their cruiser just before 4 a.m. Sunday.

The boy, an eighth-grader at a local magnet school for gifted youths, was killed. A 14-year-old passenger was booked on auto theft charges.

Police identified the officers involved in the shooting as nine-year veteran Steven Garcia, 31, who fired the shots, and six-year veteran Dana Grant, 26. Both have been assigned to desk duty during the investigation.

The shooting was tragic not only for the boy and his family, but also for Garcia, said Bob Baker, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

``If officers pursue a suspect and they perceive a threat to themselves or the community ... it might be necessary to use deadly force,'' Baker said.

Police initially called Brown, who was unarmed, a suspected gang member, but investigators on Monday said they couldn't immediately confirm a gang affiliation.

Friends and neighbors said the teen had recently begun skipping school and spending time with gang members after his father's death last year. They insisted, however, that he wasn't in a gang himself.

``It's a bad crowd he was starting to hang with but he wasn't a gang member yet - and I say yet,'' said Kevin Mitchell, a gang prevention specialist who knew Brown. ``God called him before the gangbangers called him.''

His problems notwithstanding, several people said they couldn't understand police opening fire on him.

``Just because kids hang out with these people it doesn't mean they're in gangs,'' said Antoinette Munns, whose son was friends with Brown.

Mayor James Hahn, who said he received a preliminary briefing on the incident, called it a tragedy.

``Anytime a young person loses their life, it's a tragedy,' Hahn said. ``I spoke to Chief (William) Bratton shortly after the shooting to make sure all protocols according to the consent decree are followed. We need to get to the bottom of this and what led to the shooting.''

Bratton will be briefed on the results of an internal investigation within three days and the case will then be presented to the District Attorney's Office, police officials said.

Sunday's shooting took place about a year after LAPD officers killed a driver who backed his car toward a police cruiser near Santa Monica High School at the end of a televised 90-minute pursuit.

Following that shooting, Bratton said the department would review policies on when officers can fire at moving vehicles. That review, part of a broader look at pursuit policies, has yet to be completed.