Police wound machete-wielding man near downtown L.A.
A machete-wielding man, who allegedly had hacked a diner outside a taco truck and later was shocked with a Taser by police officers to no effect, was shot by those same officers during a confrontation near downtown Los Angeles early Saturday, authorities said.
The man, whose name police did not release, was in critical condition at a local hospital. The victim he allegedly had lacerated several times with a machete remained in serious condition. His name also was not released.
The incident began shortly before 4 a.m. Police are still trying to understand why the armed man attacked the victim while he dined outside a taco truck on Beverly Boulevard, said Sgt. Mitzi Fierro of the Los Angeles Police Department.
As the attacker whacked at the man with the machete, workers inside the truck ran off. The machete-wielding man then commandeered the truck, pulling the bleeding victim into the cabin with him.
He then drove off, hitting several cars before crashing the truck near Beverly Boulevard and Berendo Street, Fierro said.
Officers by then had been alerted and appeared on the scene as the assailant emerged from the truck, machete in hand. They ordered him to drop the weapon, Fierro said, but he did not.
The officers then pulled out their Tasers, which are designed to stun and immobilize a person.
“They’re Tasing him and it didn’t affect him,” Fierro said. “So an officer-involved shooting occurs.”
No officers were hurt in the incident.
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