Man Killed in Costco Shooting Non-Verbal & Developmentally Disabled, Family Says

CORONA, Calif. – The cousin of the man killed in the Corona Costco shooting is speaking out via social media.

Rick Shureih on a Facebook post said that his cousin, 32-year-old Kenneth French, the man killed, was the victim and not the suspect. The two other “family members” who were with him, were his cousin’s mother and father (Shureih’s aunt and Uncle). French has also been described as non-verbal with intellectual disabilities. They said that he was not violent and was with his parents because he was unable to live independently. 

The shooter, an off-duty LAPD officer, first thought to be the victim, was the only shooter and no one else was armed.  Information about the confrontation that occurred before the off-duty police officer fired several shots is unclear. The off-duty officer was also described as grocery shopping with his small child, who he was holding, and his wife at the time of the confrontation.

“I’m posting this picture because the stories on social media have made them out to be the suspects, and the off-duty cop the victim,” said Shureih on his Facebook post. “This is a family that was unarmed and was just grocery shopping.”

A short time after the shooting, on Friday, June 14, 2019, Lt. Jeff Edwards said that the shooter was detained and was transported to a

local hospital because he said that he was injured. The shooter, later learned to be an off-duty LAPD officer was released from the hospital a short time later and the incident is now being investigated.

Witnesses at the scene described a verbal altercation, then a suspect taking a weapon out and shooting. The victim’s parents (pictured) both remain in the Intensive Care Unit, at a local hospital.

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