A South LA man has been convicted of firing a gun into the tail of a Los Angeles police helicopter last year, in an incident that prosecutors say could have been catastrophic.
Douglass Byers, 62, was convicted of two counts of assault on a police officer and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a four-day trial, according to LA County Deputy Dist. He said. Eric Siddall. He faces up to 43 years in prison when he is sentenced.
Police responded to the 1800 block of West 38th Street last August after multiple callers reported hearing gunshots in the back of the home where Byers lives with his mother. When police entered the backyard, they found an AR-15 rifle, two Airsoft guns and approximately 18 spent shell casings, according to the search warrant affidavit. Byers was arrested for reckless discharge of a firearm, authorities said.
Hours later, an examination by a helicopter responding to a call at Byers’ home revealed that the bullet had pierced the tail. The impact nearly caused significant damage to the systems that allow the pilot to control the aircraft, Siddall said.
“If that gun had gone on a little bit longer, that plane would have gone down,” Siddall said as he opened the argument.
The pilot and a tactical officer were on board the plane, which was circling over a crowded area at the time, Siddall said. Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before acquitting Byers.
The pilot did not see the shooting during the flight, and no one saw Byers fire the weapon. No one was injured in this incident.
Byers, who is defending himself, said he has no animosity toward law enforcement and “it would be crazy” for him to shoot the police. He said he was not even at home when the police started responding to the scene and he was confused when the police arrested him, initially believing that he was being shown how to plant marijuana in the yard.
Byers said he smoked marijuana and drank tequila before the incident and said it would have been impossible for him to make up the LAPD’s alleged near-crash of the helicopter.
“I was drunk and my vision wasn’t good at the time,” Byers said.
A gunshot residue test confirmed that Byers had just fired the weapon, according to Siddall.
Byers has multiple prior convictions and cannot legally own a gun. He admitted in court that he bought the weapon in Cleveland while visiting his family in 2017 and took it back to California by train. Byers said he kept the gun for self-defense until he fired it on New Year’s Eve and on the Fourth of July to celebrate.
Byers’ mother, Gilda, told police her son had been “having terminal cancer and was behaving erratically” in the days leading up to the incident, according to the search warrant affidavit. Byers told his mother he was being followed and wanted to make a report to the LAPD the night before, according to the affidavit. Siddall said he believes Byers deliberately shot at the helicopter, describing him as “a very deranged person.”
At trial, Byers admitted that he sometimes smoked methamphetamine but said he had not done so for at least two days before his arrest.
LAPD Capt. Mike Bland said a single shot at the helicopter’s rotor blades or windshields could be enough to cause a crash.
“A single round hitting any of these areas can cause significant damage, putting personnel and people on the ground at risk of serious injury or death,” he said.
There have been a number of other incidents where LAPD helicopters have been shot down over the years.
In November of last year, an LAPD helicopter was circling the scene of a fatal shooting where 57-year-old Anthony Whitsey was allegedly shot at least three times. The officers on the ground fired at Whitsiy after he pointed the gun at them. Whitsiy was not hit, nor was the helicopter, but he was taken into custody after a SWAT stop.
Last month, LAPD officials announced that its planes would stop responding to most emergencies near LAX for the time being, after aviation officials restricted most helicopter flights near the airport.
