Police Kill Man Who Attempted to Stab Officer
A man with a carving knife who allegedly lunged at an officer was shot and killed Wednesday by police outside a Hancock Park dry cleaners, authorities said.
Los Angeles Police Detective Ron Karlson said the incident occurred about 8 a.m. after police responded to a disturbance at the Thrifty Dry Cleaners in the 4000 block of West Beverly Boulevard.
Investigators said a 55-year-old man, whose identity was withheld pending notification of relatives, argued with the business’ owner and stabbed the owner’s wife in the hand before police arrived.
Karlson said that after attacking the owner’s wife, the man chased the owner around the block and returned to the store.
Officers Lewis Wiggins, 31, and Michael Huff, 26, arrived and ordered the man to leave. Authorities said the man, who had a carving knife, went outside. But when officers ordered him to drop the knife, he lunged at one of them. The two policemen fired a total of five shots.
“Officer Wiggins, fearing for his life, fired three times, and Officer Huff, seeing the suspect charging at the other officer, fired twice,” Karlson said. The man was pronounced dead at Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, he said. Neither officer was injured.
Investigators have not established a motive for the attack. The man had been a frequent customer, they said.
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