A third Vigil was held Sept. 3 at Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards for Zachary Champommier, an 18-year-old who was shot and killed by law enforcement on June 24.
The shooting occurred in the 12100 block of Ventura Boulevard in Studio City close to where the friends and family held up signs and pictures of Zachary in remembrance of him as they wait for the official findings of the investigation.
In the meantime, friends like Debbie Lopez said the main goal is to keep pressure on getting the report and she suspects "they might release it on a busy news day" or on a holiday weekend so it won't get much media play.
Lopez keeps a digital vigil on a website Valley of the Doll: Justice for Zac, and pushes for answers as to why her friend was shot.
On Sept. 1, friends of Zachary also spoke at the public forum at a police commission meeting.
"We just want some answers," said Michael Brooks, whose daughter was friends of Zachary, "There were skid marks I can show you right now, it could have happened to any of us, he got scared and in a hurry tried to get away. There was a lot going on and he ran into someone. The police are two weeks late in getting the information to us."
Brooks also said "it was unfortunate that Zac was meeting a man he had met online who turned out to be an unsavory character." That man was Douglas Ryan Oeters who ended up being arrested that night.
Friends and family wait to hear the findings from the officers that were actually there that fateful evening. The Los Angeles Sheriff Detective investigating the incident, Don Walls, says "the report is not complete yet and then it will be reviewed by the District Attorney's office, these things take some time." He also said " Zachary's action caused a reaction." Sheriff Lee Baca was quoted in The Los Angeles Times as saying "the nature of [Champommier's] aggressive actions—actually hitting the deputy—that is not someone who is without some degree of fault."
But for now Zachary's mother was holding a picture of her son and couldn't comment, just to say, " He was my only child."
