Police Kill Psychiatric Patient, 20, After Scuffle

A psychiatric patient who allegedly assaulted a security guard at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center before fleeing Sunday morning was later shot and killed near his home by Hawthorne police during a confrontation that left both officers with moderate injuries, police said.

Terence Williams, 20, who suffered from schizophrenia and had been hospitalized briefly for the disorder in 1988, was shot several times in the upper body and died at the scene about 6 p.m., police said. Williams was not armed.

Williams, who had not been taking medication for his condition, was dropped off at the hospital by family members Sunday morning for an evaluation and to receive medicine to treat his illness, relatives said.

A couple hours after he was checked into the hospital, Williams allegedly attacked a security guard before escaping, said Hawthorne Police Lt. Herb Mundon. Hospital spokeswoman Maria Cancino also said that a security guard was attacked but declined to provide any details.

Hospital authorities reported the assault to Hawthorne police, who later confronted Williams in his driveway, Mundon said. Police would provide no further details of the incident.

As two officers tried to arrest him, Williams started struggling and hit the officers before running away, according to neighbor Jeffrey Bau, 11, who said he witnessed the incident. The officers chased Williams as he hopped a fence at the back of the property, Jeffrey said. A few minutes later, several gunshots were heard.

One of the officers was briefly hospitalized for a broken nose; the other was treated for facial injuries, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Stoneman. He would not release their names.

Brian Williams, 24, who arrived home soon after his brother was shot, was arrested at the scene of the shooting for “trying to break through the police crime scene line after being warned not to,” Mundon said. He was released after less than an hour.

“It wasn’t a life-threatening situation. Compared to a man’s life, what’s a broken nose?” Williams said.

The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the shooting for the Hawthorne police, Mundon said.