ALHAMBRA : Plainclothes Officer Kills Knife-Wielding Carjacker
A plainclothes Alhambra police officer shot and killed a man who tried to carjack his unmarked vehicle at an intersection early Friday, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman said.
The man, whose identity was withheld pending notification of next of kin, approached the officer as he was stopped at Commonwealth and Orange Grove avenues about 2:40 a.m. and asked what time it was.
After the officer answered, the man put a large knife to his head and demanded the car, the spokesman said. The officer then shot twice through the open window, and both bullets hit the man in the upper body.
Before approaching the car, the man had been sitting with two others on a nearby bus bench, police said. The other two fled after the shooting but were later detained by Alhambra police for questioning. Their names were not released.
Police would not release the name of the officer, who was part of a 10-officer task force assigned to combat street crime in the area. The Sheriff’s Department was assisting Alhambra police in their investigation of the shooting.
“A preliminary investigation reveals the officer acted appropriately,” Alhambra Police Chief Russell Siverling said.
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