South Bay Man Shot, Killed by Police ID'd as Ruben Jose Herrera

The name of a man was shot and killed by a police officer in the emergency room at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Torrance was released today.

Ruben Jose Herrera, 26, of Torrance, was shot dead according to Lt. Fred Corral of the coroner’s office.

Los Angeles police said he swung a metal stool at officers and tried to take an officer’s gun.

The shooting was at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the hospital, at 1000 W. Carson St., but the chain of events started hours earlier with a report of vandalism in a nearby neighborhood, said LAPD Lt. John Jenal.

Officers responded at 8 a.m. Saturday to the 1600 block of West 207th Street in Harbor Gateway. Neighbors called police because a man, later identified as herrera, was throwing bottles at an apartment complex, Jenal said.

“The suspect attacked officers with punches and kicks and the use of a Taser was unsuccessful,” he said.

The officers subdued the suspect with a carotid restraint, Jenal said.

Both officers and Herrera were injured in the encounter, so he was taken to Harbor UCLA for treatment, and the officers were taken to other hospitals, Jenal said.

He was treated in the emergency room at Harbor UCLA and cleared for booking, the lieutenant said.

Officers -- who were not involved in the original arrest -- were removing the suspect’s handcuffs from the gurney to prepare to take him to the LAPD’s Harbor Station.

“He again attacked the officers, swinging a metal stool at the officers,” Jenal said. “They tried a Taser and it was unsuccessful.”

Herrera tried to grab one officer’s gun and an officer shot him once in the torso, Jenal said. He was pronounced dead in the ER.

The officers injured in the arrest were treated at a hospital and released, he said.

--City News Service