A South L.A. man was convicted of firing a rifle round through the tail of a Los Angeles police helicopter last year, in an incident prosecutors said could have caused a catastrophe.
Douglass Byers, 62, was convicted of two counts of assault on a peace officer and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a four-day trial, according to L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall. He faces up to 43 years in prison at sentencing.
Police responded to the 1800 block of West 38th Street last August after multiple 911 callers claimed they heard gunfire coming from the back of a home where Byers lives with his mother. When officers entered the backyard, they found an AR-15 assault rifle, two Airsoft replica rifles and roughly 18 spent shells, according to a search warrant affidavit. Byers was arrested for negligent discharge of a firearm, authorities said.
Hours later, an inspection of a helicopter that responded to the shooting call at Byers’ home revealed a bullet had pierced the tail. The impact almost caused severe damage to the systems that allow the pilot to control the aircraft, Siddall said.
“If that shot had just been a little bit further down, that aircraft would have fallen,” Siddall said during his opening argument.
A pilot and tactical officer were on board the aircraft, which was hovering over a densely populated area at the time, Siddall said. Jurors deliberated for a little under an hour before convicting Byers.
The pilot did not notice the shot while in flight, and no one actually saw Byers shooting the weapon. No one was injured in the incident.
Byers, who represented himself at trial, said he had no animus toward law enforcement and that it would be “out of character” for him to shoot at police. He claimed he wasn’t even home at the time police initially responded to the scene and was confused when officers arrested him, initially believing he was being cited for growing cannabis plants 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 the shot LAPD claims nearly caused a helicopter crash.
“I’m inebriated and my vision isn’t great at the time,” Byers said.
Gunshot residue tests confirmed Byers had recently fired a weapon, according to Siddall.
Byers has multiple prior felony convictions and cannot legally own a firearm. He admitted at trial to buying the weapon in Cleveland while visiting family in 2017 and bringing it back to California on a train. Byers said he kept the gun for self-defense and only fired it on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July in celebration.
Byers’ mother, Gilda, told police her son had been “suffering from terminal cancer and acting irrationally” in the days leading up to the shooting, according to the search warrant affidavit. Byers told his mother he was being followed and wanted to make a report to LAPD the night before, according to the affidavit. Siddall said he believes Byers intentionally fired upon the helicopter, describing him as an “extremely paranoid person.”
At trial, Byers admitted to smoking methamphetamine sometimes but said he had not done so for at least two days before his arrest.
LAPD Capt. Mike Bland said a single gunshot to a helicopter’s rotor blades or windshields could be enough to cause a crash.
“A single round striking any of these areas can cause catastrophic damage, putting both the crew and people on the ground at risk of serious injury or death,” he said.
There have been a handful of other incidents in which LAPD helicopters were shot at in recent years.
Last November, an LAPD helicopter orbiting over the scene of an assault with a deadly weapon call was allegedly shot at at least three times by 57-year-old Anthony Whitsey. Officers on the ground fired at Whitsey after he allegedly pointed the gun at them. Whitsey was not struck, and neither was the helicopter, but he was taken into custody after a SWAT standoff.
Last month, LAPD officials announced that its airships would stop responding to most emergencies near LAX for the time being, after federal aviation officials issued restrictions on most helicopter flights near the airport.
