Williams responded to the sight of a suspicious-looking police car near the 1300 block of North F Street. Fearing for his safety, he fled on foot.

The officer pursued him, firing several rounds at the young man and striking him.

Although police claimed that they were called to the scene to respond to an armed man, no weapon has been recovered.

The crime is being investigated by the police department's homicide department and by independent community groups.

Police brutality and lack of accountability continues to plague residents, particularly young men of color, of the Inland Empire as much as our comrades in Los Angeles, where earlier this year the LAPD shot and killed Manuel Jamines and a jury assigned Oscar Grant's assassin Johannes Mehserle a minimal sentence.

Just last week, a sheriff's deputy in Hesperia shot and killed 18-year-old Ray Blajos, who suffered from mental illness.1

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1. Cruz, Mike. "Deputy shoots, kills suspect," San Bernardio Sun December 20, 2010. http://www.sbsun.com/ci_16908208