Officer Kills Man Wielding Knife
A 60-year-old man acting “irrationally” and carrying a butcher knife down a major thoroughfare was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Paramount early Saturday when the man turned toward the deputy after slashing a civilian officer, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
According to a department statement, the deputy fired several rounds--striking the suspect at least once--after the man refused an order at gunpoint to drop the knife.
The man, whose identity was not immediately released, had attacked and injured an unarmed community service officer who was assisting the deputy on patrol, the department said.
The man was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, where he was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m., a hospital spokeswoman said.
The deputy, from the Lakewood sheriff’s station, was not injured.
The community service officer was treated for minor cuts at Suburban Medical Center in Paramount, the Sheriff’s Department said.
A knife with an 11-inch blade was recovered.
Authorities declined to identify the deputy or the community service officer, who was an employee of the city of Paramount.
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