Police Shootings Leave 1 Dead, 1 Wounded

Los Angeles police officers shot and killed one man and wounded another in two confrontations in San Pedro and South-Central Los Angeles late Saturday.

Allan Eberhardt, 23, was killed in a flurry of gunshots at his San Pedro home after he advanced on a group of officers while armed with a machete, police said Sunday.

Half an hour later, officers wounded another man, Troy Ward, 23, after he and two others allegedly fired on a passing police car in South-Central.

No officers were injured in either incident.

The first incident began shortly before 11:30 p.m., when Eberhardt, armed with a machete, stole beer from a San Pedro liquor store, Officer Mike Schwer said. Officers responded and gave chase, but lost the suspect’s car in traffic.

A short time later, police were called to the 2600 block of Kerckhoff Avenue on a report that a man had broken out all the windows in his house with a vacuum cleaner. There, officers found Eberhardt, still armed with a machete.

Schwer said officers attempted to immobilize Eberhardt with a stun gun, but were unsuccessful. Three officers fired a total of 16 rounds from their 9 millimeter pistols when Eberhardt moved toward them with his machete. He was pronounced dead at San Pedro Peninsula Hospital.

The second shooting occurred just before midnight Saturday when several armed men opened fire from a car on a police car near Avalon Boulevard and Colden Avenue. Officer Jack Rinallo said the officers had been summoned to the area after reports of gunshots.

The officers gave chase and found the car abandoned in an alley several blocks away. Officer Christopher Barling spotted one suspect, later identified as Ward, lying face down in the front yard of a home in the 300 block of East 99th Street.

When Barling saw Ward raise his arms as if aiming a weapon, the officer fired his pistol, hitting Ward once in the leg. Ward ran, but was found a short time later by police dogs in an abandoned garage.

Ward was treated at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. He will be booked for investigation of attempted murder of a peace officer, police said.

It was unclear if he was armed when he was shot, police said. In the area, officers found a 9 millimeter pistol and three .38-caliber pistols allegedly belonging to the group that fired on police. Rinallo said all shots in the weapons had been expended.

Two other men were being sought, police said.