Sylvia Le Mat
Staff Writer
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 30-year-old production assistant John Winkler was shot and killed by L.A County sheriff’s deputies who mistook him for a stabbing suspect.
The way Winkler lost his life remains unclear: according to the Washington Post, “Winkler was hanging out with some friends who lived in the apartment below him on Palm Avenue when a man who also lived in that apartment, Alexander McDonald, climbed over the balcony with the knife” whereas Gawker.com reports, “John Winkler went to a neighbor’s apartment Monday night to try to help three people who were being held captive at knife point”.
However, the fact that the production assistant was killed while running out of the apartment has been confirmed in an official statement of the Sheriff department. “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. Simultaneously, Victim Winkler ran out of the door, lunging at the back of the fleeing victim. Both ran directly at the deputies. Winkler was similar to the description of the suspect and was wearing a black shirt. 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.”
Winker died a few hours later at the local hospital. It is a tragic end for the young man who had moved to L.A six months ago to pursue a career in production and who died while trying to help people who would certainly have been killed without his intervention.
The suspect, Alexander McDonald, has been charged with with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of torture.
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