Los Angeles, California: LAPD Officers Shoot Man Who Struck an Officer With a Metal Bar Downtown

Los Angeles police officers shot and wounded a robbery suspect in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon after the man charged at officers and struck one of them with a metal bar, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The shooting happened at about 1:25 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, at Fourth and Omar streets. Officers from the LAPD Central Division were answering a radio call reporting a robbery in the area when they encountered the man, according to an LAPD statement carried by City News Service.

Commands and foam rounds came first, police say

When officers arrived, the man was holding a metal bar in one hand and a long tree branch in the other, police said. Officers told him multiple times to drop the weapon, and he did not comply.

Officers then fired less lethal foam rounds at the man. Police said the rounds had no effect.

According to the LAPD statement, the man then charged at the officers and struck one officer with the metal bar. At that point, an officer involved shooting occurred and the man was struck by gunfire.

Both men were taken to hospitals

Police took the man into custody at the scene. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, and the officer he struck was also taken to a hospital. Police said both men had stable vital signs, and no other injuries were reported.

The metal bar was recovered and booked as evidence, police said. The man has not been identified in the reports released so far, and police did not release the name of the officer who was struck.

Investigation shut the scene for hours

The LAPD said an investigation was underway at the scene, which was expected to stay shut down for several hours while investigators worked. Streets around Fourth and Omar were closed off for the investigation, and the public was urged to avoid the area in the first report of the shooting.

The department described the information it released as preliminary and said the investigation was in its early stages. Police said there is no ongoing threat to the community.

Officer involved shootings by the LAPD are reviewed by the department, and investigators will examine the robbery call, the commands officers gave, the foam rounds that were fired, and the moment the man charged, based on the sequence the department has released. No further details about the reported robbery, or about what led officers to the man they encountered, had been released by Saturday night.