West Covina Police Kill Distraught Man Waving Rifle

A distraught man was fatally shot by West Covina police Saturday after authorities said he pointed a fully-loaded semiautomatic assault rifle at an officer.

Raymond Koltin, 38, was shot once in the chest outside his apartment in the 200 block of Pima Avenue about 5 p.m., according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who investigated the shooting. Koltin died about 3 1/2 hours later at Queen of the Valley Hospital.

West Covina police were called to Koltin’s apartment Saturday afternoon after receiving a report that shots were fired there, according to Deputy Rafael Estrada. Officers surrounded the apartment--where Koltin was upstairs, holding a rifle in the bedroom window--and spoke to him for more than a hour in an attempt to persuade him to drop the gun, Estrada said.

Police then called a special weapons team to the scene. But while the team was on the way, Koltin, still armed, appeared at the front door. Estrada said the officers found Koltin to be “despondent over marital and financial problems. He also said he wanted to die and repeatedly pleaded with officers to kill him.”

When the officers attempted to send a police dog toward him, he pointed his weapon at the dog handler. Another officer fired one shotgun round, hitting Koltin in the chest.

Koltin was alone at his apartment. Police recovered his weapon which they said was fully loaded and ammunition.