Man Being Evicted Shot to Death After Slashing a Police Officer

A Westchester area man was fatally shot Wednesday after he knifed a Los Angeles police officer who was helping sheriff’s deputies and a mortgage company representative evict him from his home under a court order, police reported.

Neither the dead man nor the wounded Pacific Division officer had been identified several hours after the mid-morning incident in the 7600 block of South Flight Avenue.

Police said they had been asked for back-up help because of the mental condition of the 64-year-old man, whose house bore signs indicating he was a “psychic.”

Reportedly, there was a lengthy standoff before he broke from the officers and ran into a side yard shouting, “You’ll never take me alive!” When he pulled out a small sword and slashed the policeman, investigators said, two of the officers fired a total of seven shots. The man died a short time later.

The wounded officer was taken to Daniel Freeman Marina Mercy Hospital for treatment of superficial cuts on his left arm and chest.