Frank Grillo has a few words to say about crime in Los Angeles after his boxing trainer Azuma Bennett was shot and killed outside a legal marijuana dispensary last week. The actor, known for his role as Brock “Crossbones” Rumlow in a number of Marvel films, said the incident marks an example of “out-of-control crime” in the city.
“I don’t know what’s happened to Los Angeles that a beautiful guy like this gets shot and killed over nothing,” Grillo told KNBC, explaining that Bennett “made everybody feel good about training.”
Bennett worked at Fortune Boxing Gym, which in addition to Hollywood actors, hosted famous fighters like Manny Pacquiao. He was shot around 9:45 a.m. on August 12th, and died on the way to the hospital from injuries sustained.
At the time of publishing this article, a suspect has not been named, though LAPD are investigating the case as a homicide. Bennett’s friends have organized a GoFundMe to help get him back to his native Australia.
Per ABC7, the first half of 2022 saw Los Angeles’ highest level of homicides in 15 years. LAPD data shows that about 23 percent of the homicide victims were categorized as unhoused, marking a slight increase from 2020 data.
Data also shows that Los Angeles had an increase in gun sales in 2021. However, there was also a slight decrease in background checks between 2020 and 2021. It’s also worth noting that nearly half of the homicides recorded were concentrated in southeast divisions of the city.
