The Los Angeles Police Department on Monday released the name of the off-duty officer involved in a videotaped incident in which he discharged his weapon during a confrontation with a teen boy in Anaheim last week.
Cellphone video recorded by a witness shows a teen apparently striking at an off-duty LAPD officer as the officer holds onto another teen in the hedge on Feb. 22, 2017.
The confrontation involving Officer Kevin Ferguson and an unidentified 13-year-old boy occurred in the area of Euclid Street and Palais Road on the afternoon of Feb. 21, according to police.
Video of the incident went viral after being posted online, and the case has garnered national attention.
Anaheim Police Department Chief Raul Quezada said what transpired was part of an "ongoing dispute" involving multiple juveniles walking across the officer's lawn, which escalated into a physical altercation that day.
During the initial confrontation, the officer alleged the boy said he was going to shoot him, according to Quezada.
He then walked away, and the officer decided to try and detain him pending police arrival. While physically detaining him, other juveniles got involved, and that led to a "physical altercation," the police chief said.
Two juveniles then allegedly assaulted Ferguson, knocking him to the ground. The group surrounded the officer and he drew his weapon, firing a single shot into the ground, according to Quezada.
Two of the boys were initially arrested, including the 13-year-old who, in recounting the events to KTLA last Wednesday, said it began when the officer yelled at a girl.
The teen also disputed that he told the officer he was going to shoot him, saying he actually said he was going to "sue him." A neighbor told KTLA she also heard the boy say "sue," not "shoot."
Ferguson has been placed on administration leave amid the ongoing investigation.
Both teens have been released.
No charges have been filed in the case, though Quezada said last Thursday they were possible for "any and all" involved.