Sunset Boulevard Closed After Police Shoot Machete-Wielding Man

HOLLYWOOD, CA — An officer-involved shooting shut down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood Monday morning. A machete-wielding attacker was shot and killed by police, and a Los Angeles Police Department officer, was hospitalized following the attack.

The shooting occurred in the middle of Sunset Boulevard near Las Palmas Avenue. Sunset Boulevard was expected to remain closed for hours Monday.

According to Lieutenant Chris Ramirez, LAPD public information officer, the suspect entered an auto parts store on Highland Avenue, just south of Sunset, at about 11:30 a.m., where he committed a robbery with the machete. The suspect then allegedly walked to a fast-food drive-thru on Sunset and Highland and carjacked a victim, taking the vehicle and trying to escape police before crashing into two police vehicles and coming to rest at the intersection of Sunset and Highland.

Ramirez said the suspect then exited the car with the machete in hand and tried to run from police.

Video from the scene shows an officer chasing a man armed with a machete, when the man suddenly turns and charges at the officer. In the video, the officer can be heard shouting, "Don't do it! Don't do it!" before firing at the man as the officer tries to back away. The man chases the officer onto Sunset Boulevard, where the officer falls into the street, and the suspect looms above him with the machete in the air and as other officers approach. That's when the video cuts off. Click here to see the dramatic video.

The shooting prompted the hours-long closure of the busy Sunset Boulevard thoroughfare, according to police spokeswoman Officer Rosario Cervantes. The nearby L.A. Recording School was placed on lockdown as police attempted to apprehend the suspect.

Authorities did not have immediate information about the injuries involved.

"We do have a confirmed officer-involved shooting," Cervantes told Patch. Police were called to the area in response to a robbery in progress, according to police.

Commuters were advised to avoid the area and expect delays along Sunset Boulevard.

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City News Service contributed to this report.