911 Call Ends in Fatal Shooting by Police

A Los Angeles police sergeant shot and killed a knife-wielding man in a North Hollywood apartment Thursday after the officer and his partner responded to a burglary call, authoritiessaid.

Christopher Prescott, 34, of North Hollywood was fatally wounded about midnight in the 11000 block of Otsego Street, Officer Don Cox said.

Police went to the residence after receiving a call of an attempted burglary.

Cox said Prescott made the 911 call.

LAPD Sgt. Walter Teague and Officer Douglas Humphreys knocked on the apartment door but no one answered, police said.

One of the officers went to the apartment manager’s office and retrieved a key to the residence.

As the officers searched the apartment, they found Prescott inside a closet, police said.

Police said the victim yelled at the officers and made a “stabbing motion.” Teague fired in self-defense, killing Prescott, police said. Neither of the officers were injured.

Details were scant about the specifics of the shooting.

Police wouldn’t say how many times the victim was shot nor would they say how close the officers were to the man at the time of the shooting.

Teague has been with the department for 10 years and Humphreys for four years. Both men are stationed at the North Hollywood Division.

An internal police inquiry and an investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office are underway.