An allegedly armed man was killed in an officer-involved shooting in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night, LAPD officials said.
Gunfire broke out just after 5 p.m. as police investigated a report of a shirtless man shooting a gun into the air in the area of 6th and Mateo streets, officials said.
It was unclear whether the alleged gunman shot himself or if he was struck by police gunfire.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. He was not immediately identified.
No officers were injured.
Witness Jessica Yaeger said she and her fiance, Eddie Bustamante, hid behind a food truck when she saw a man "with a blank look on his face" waving a gun.
"He walked down to the end of the street, fired off a shot, then started running back down… tried to carjack a guy," she said.
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When officers arrived they instructed the man to put the gun down.
"Next thing you know, he lifted it up and pointed it at them," Bustamante said.
The alleged gunman raised the firearm, prompting officers to fire three rounds, witnesses said.
“It was pretty clear to me that that’s what he wanted to do,” Bustamante said. “He had no anger on his face until the cops showed up. It was more like he was trying to egg them on to shoot him.”
Police said they recovered a handgun at the scene.
"It's unknown what the suspect's motivation was," Sgt. Frank Preciado said. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
