LOS ANGELES — A small group of friends and family members gathered Sunday outside the South Los Angeles house where Carnell Snell Jr. was fatally shot by police Saturday after a vehicle pursuit.

“I want my baby … CJ! CJ! CJ!” Snell’s mother, Monique Morgan, moaned between sobs, as one friend propped her up from behind and another waved a fan above her head to deflect the hot sun.

Behind them, a metal side gate was pocked with what appeared to be bullet holes.

Family members said they were too distraught to speak to the media.

Snell, 18, was shot Saturday afternoon outside his home near 107th Street and Western Avenue after he bailed out of a vehicle being pursued by police and ran away on foot. Police said Snell was armed with a gun, which was recovered at the scene.

The shooting drew an angry crowd that grew more tense as the day wore on, with many shouting profanities at police officers outfitted in riot gear. The crowd shut down the intersection at 108th Street and Western Avenue. Another group of protesters marched to Mayor Eric Garcetti’s home in the Hancock Park neighborhood, and photos posted Sunday show eggs that had apparently been thrown at the residence.

Police said they were pursuing the vehicle that Snell was a passenger in because they believed it may have been stolen. But authorities have not said whether the car was in fact stolen or divulged any more details about the shooting.

The driver of the vehicle remains at large.

A neighbor of Morgan’s, who identified herself as Ms. Crosby, said she saw Snell flee from police officers, then leap over the side gate. She then heard about eight gunshots.

Crosby said she did not see whether Snell was carrying a gun — she only saw him pulling up his pants as he was running.

“I kept telling him, ‘Stop, stop, they’re going to shoot you,’ ” she said.

Then, she shifted her pleas from Snell to the officers, begging them not to shoot, she said.

Crosby and other neighbors described Snell, who grew up two doors down from where he died, as a polite young man who helped clean up the trash after block parties.

“He was always a good kid to me. He called me Auntie Ma’am, and he called my husband Uncle Sir,” said one 53-year-old neighbor, who would give only her first name, Latonya.

Another neighbor, Christine Conley, said Snell was about the same age as her daughter and sometimes spent the night at her house when he was a child.
“It didn’t matter religion, gender or race — he always treated people, especially elders, with a lot of respect,” said Conley, 44, a caregiver for the elderly and handicapped.

Throughout Sunday morning and early afternoon, Snell’s friends gathered on the block, where a memorial of candles and flowers filled the sidewalk. They all grew up in the neighborhood together, they said, and were working together on a clothing line and music brand called Only the S7even.

Snell was attending college, enjoyed rapping and was pursuing boxing again after a hiatus, friends said.

Court records show that Snell was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in July and sentenced to a year in Los Angeles County Jail.

But Snell’s friends said they had never known him to be involved with gangs or to carry a gun.

“He was at the wrong place at the wrong time, the LAPD being trigger-happy,” said Eric Hays, 28.

Tye Whitaker, 19, said he had known Snell since they were toddlers. Whitaker recalled that when Snell had a dollar, he would split it fifty-fifty and buy something for his friend.

“I don’t know why they would do that to CJ,” Whitaker said. “He would always make you smile. He had a big smile. He always wanted everyone to have a good time.”

Many people at the scene questioned why the police shot Snell instead of using Tasers or beanbags.

“It looks like with policemen, it’s a thing to do, killing black men,” said Johnny Jackson, 69, the owner of the house where Snell was shot.

Jackson, who is retired from AT&T, said that when he was a young man in Mississippi during the civil rights era, police used billy clubs, water hoses and dogs on black people, but rarely lethal force.

Los Angeles Police Department officials have not said whether Snell made any threatening movements toward the officers who were chasing him.

Assistant Chief Michel Moore said the department expects to release more information soon.

“An investigation continues to be conducted. We anticipate more information to be coming out Monday or Tuesday,” he said.

Jamie McBride, a director for the union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers, said that if anyone points a gun at a police officer, “we will shoot you.”

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a civil rights advocate who met with the Snell family Sunday, called on the LAPD to clarify its policies for when officers are allowed to use deadly force. He also called on the department to release the names of the officer or officers who shot Snell.

“There has been a rash of shootings. Why now are police officers escalating their use of deadly force?” Hutchinson said. “Is it a fear factor? Do they feel under siege? Are they able to use it because there’s no accountability?”

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