Man "Acting Bizarrely" Is Fatally Shot by Los Angeles Police
A man who was “acting bizarrely and standing in traffic” was fatally shot by Los Angeles police officers today, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The incident took place in Lake Balboa, a district in the San Fernando Valley. LAPD officers responded Monday afternoon to a call reporting the man’s “strange behavior.”
The details here are vague and, well, interesting: LAPD Lt. John Jenal says officers arrived on the scene and used Tasers on the man “in an effort to de-escalate the situation.” When electrocuting a person in the middle of a street under afternoon sunlight somehow failed to de-escalate things, officers reportedly reached for another non-lethal projectile: bean bag rounds.
At this point the situation had escalated to the point where officers felt only lethal force could bring it to a close, and so they shot and killed the man, “described as a Latino and in his mid-30s.”
It was unclear how many shots were fired or whether police were engaged in a struggle before the shooting. The officers were not seriously injured, he said.
After shooting and killing the man, police reportedly found someone they say he assaulted, although the extent of this assault is unknown, as is whether this victim was treated at a hospital at any point. It is noteworthy, though, that the report seems to suggest this assault was not known by police before the shooting took place.
Officers were not wearing body cameras, and apparently no local surveillance cameras captured the event. The Times report says the deceased was the 34th person shot by the LAPD this year, and the 19th to die.
