Westside's Fatal LAPD Shooting Is Third This Week

LOS ANGELES, CA — Police shot and killed a man reportedly armed with a knife in West Los Angeles Thursday evening. It was the Los Angeles Police Department's second fatal officer involved shooting in as many days and third since Saturday.

The investigations into the shootings remain ongoing. Authorities have released few details about the moments leading up to the deadly interactions. In all three shootings, police recovered weapons from the scene, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The deadly week caps three years of increased LAPD shootings following historic lows.

Shortly before 5 p.m. on Thursday, LAPD officers were called to the area of Pico and Sawtelle boulevards to respond to a report of an ssault with a deadly weapon.

An officer arrived at the scene and exited his vehicle when the man allegedly charged at the officer with the knife, prompting the officer to shoot him at least once.

The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died of his wounds while the officer suffered an unspecified injury due to fall.

Police closed the area to the public as an investigation into the shooting was conducted. LAPD investigators recovered a knife at the scene, but no further details were released.

The deadly shooting came on the heels of a similar incident in Wilmington on Tuesday.

Officers were sent to an alley near the 600 block of West Anaheim Street on a report of a man armed with a handgun. The man reportedly ignored commands to put down the weapon, and at least one officer opened fire. The man was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A patrol vehicle at the scene was involved in a crash, police said, though it was not immediately clear if the collision was related to the shooting.

On Saturday, another man died at the hands of Los Angeles police in South Los Angeles.

LAPD officers claimed he was armed with a gun when they spotted him while patrolling the Historic South-Central area at about 9:40 p.m. at 36th Place and Maple Avenue, according to Officer D. Orris of the LAPD's Operations Center.

It was unclear what happened that precipitated the shooting.

The man in his 30s was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead. As of Friday, authorities still had not publicly identified the man pending notification of his next of kin, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Coroner and Medical Examiner's Office.

In 2021, LAPD officers shot 32 people, killing at least 15 of them.

LAPD officers killed seven people in 27 officer-involved shootings in 2020 a year after recording a 30-year low in officer shootings. In 2019 LAPD officers shot 26 people, killing 12.

City News Service contributed to this report.