Man Wielding Shotgun Killed by SWAT Team

A man authorities said was mentally ill was shot and killed by members of a Los Angeles police SWAT team Sunday after he barricaded himself in a house with a sawed-off shotgun and allegedly threatened officers with the weapon, police said.

The 22-year-old man, whose name was not released, was shot at 2:55 a.m. Sunday after the officers staked out his Southwest Los Angeles home for more than three hours, said Sgt. David Young.

When SWAT team members approached a window near the home’s bathroom, the man pointed the shotgun at them, Young said. The officers fired at the man, striking him several times in the chest and face. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Young said.

Police surrounded the house after responding to a report from a neighbor that the man had a sawed-off shotgun in his hand and “was shaking it in a particularly bizarre way,” Young said.

Police said the man had been suffering from schizophrenia and that doctors had prescribed him medication. But he had been off the medication when he was shot, Young said. “It was one of those cases that when he took his medication, he was OK,” Young said. “But he would go for days at a time without taking his medication and he would freak out like this.”

Officers who saw the man inside the house had tried to talk him into coming out, but he refused.