LAPD officers shoot man allegedly armed with knife during suicide call in Wilmington

Los Angeles police officers shot a man in his 20s after responding to radio call about a man with a knife possibly attempting suicide in Wilmington on Friday morning, the LAPD said.

The man’s condition was described by police later Friday as stable. He was being treated at a hospital.

Officers were dispatched to the 1700 block of Wilmington Boulevard in the Harbor Division about 10:42 a.m., and there they found the man in front of a building with a knife, police said.

“The officers attempted to deescalate the situation and gain compliance from the suspect without success,” the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Police said the officers used “less lethal” munitions, including at least one beanbag round, but they “had no effect,” the LAPD said.

At least one officer then shot the man, police said. The man was not identified.

Police said a knife was recovered at the scene.

The shooting, like all those by LAPD officers, will be investigated by the department’s Force Investigation Division.

The incident was the 25th LAPD shooting of 2021.

On Tuesday, LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the civilian Police Commission there had been 24 LAPD shootings this year, compared with 18 at the same time last year.

Nine of those 24 shootings through Tuesday had been fatal, compared with six of the 18 at the same time last year.

The LAPD has attracted scrutiny in recent months for shootings involving individuals experiencing mental illness or otherwise in crisis who are armed with knives or other sharp objects.