3 Men Killed by Officers in Separate Shootings

Police shot and killed three suspects Monday, bringing to four the number of men fatally shot in the last 48 hours in Los Angeles County, authorities said.

Three of the dead were shot fatally after they allegedly pointed weapons at police. The fourth man was a suspected robber who was shot by an off-duty police officer in Silver Lake.

A fifth man who police said pointed a gun at officers was shot and hospitalized.

“Violence toward police is escalating,” Sheriff’s Capt. Ray Peavy said. “These shootings are a reflection of that violence.”

Observers said the high number of shootings by police was rare. Both Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and Los Angeles Police Department officers were involved.

Authorities gave these accounts of the incidents:

* At 5:10 p.m. Monday, an off-duty LAPD officer was having his hair cut at a salon at Sunset and Silver Lake boulevards, while his wife, also an LAPD officer, watched. A robber burst in with a weapon and one of the officers shot him, Deputy Chief Michael Berkow said.

* Kazi Bell, 22, of South Los Angeles was fatally shot after he allegedly pointed a .357 Magnum at a deputy chasing him in the Athens area. Bell died about 1:30 a.m. Monday near 125th Street and South Vermont Avenue, Peavy said. Detectives recovered a revolver near the body.

Two deputies on patrol saw Bell and another man walking in an area known for gang activity. When officers approached the pair, Bell ran, Peavy said, before turning and pointing a handgun at his pursuers.

* LAPD officers shot Cameron Williams on Monday after he allegedly pointed a handgun at them. Williams was shot in his home in the 100 block of West 111th Place after officers answered a call reporting a disturbance, authorities said. Officers Ramon Guillen and Albert Flores heard an argument inside the house as they approached. Williams, 35, died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

* A sheriff’s deputy fired at Sergio Rodriguez after he allegedly pointed “a dark object at him” while fleeing, Deputy Scott Gage said. The incident occurred just after 11 p.m. Sunday near Floral Drive and Mednik Avenue in East Los Angeles.

Rodriguez, 23, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer and held on $1-million bail. A .380-caliber handgun was recovered at the scene. Rodriguez had been spotted painting graffiti on a building, Gage said.

* And on Monday, authorities identified a 74-year-old man who was shot to death by deputies Sunday at a Bellflower restaurant after wounding two female staffers in the legs. He was Maynard King of Los Angeles, Peavy said.

“It was an apparent classic suicide by cop,” Peavy said. “He was anxious for a confrontation with law enforcement and demanded sheriffs be called. He shot the women to show he meant business.”

Deputies shot King after he pointed a handgun at them; they fired again when he picked up his gun a second time as deputies closed in, Peavy said.