At least one person is dead after gunfire erupted in downtown L.A. Monday afternoon, leading to police shooting another a person believed to be a suspect in the fatal gun violence.
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a possible shooting in progress at around 3:25 p.m. in the area of 5th and Los Angeles streets, officials confirmed to KTLA.
Details are limited and it’s unclear exactly what occurred before police arrived, but aerial footage of the scene captured by Sky5 showed a victim on the sidewalk covered with a white sheet as investigators erected a canopy over the body.
Less than a half mile away, around 4th and Spring streets, video posted to the Citizen App showed a heavy police presence as officers, with guns drawn, huddled behind a patrol cruiser as an apparently armed suspect refused to surrender.
At one point, the man, who had what appeared to have a firearm in his right hand, held his hands up before pointing the gun at his head, turning his back on police and walking from the middle of the street to the sidewalk where he was struck by a less-than-lethal round fired by officers.
The suspect fell to the ground but did not drop the firearm until he was struck a second time by police.
Officers slowly approached the suspect from behind the patrol vehicle, eventually surrounding and disarming him before medical personnel with the L.A. fire department arrived on the scene.
The suspect’s condition was unknown, though he was conscious and breathing when paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital by ambulance.
While officials have yet to release any further information, a traffic alert was issued for 5th and Main streets as well as 4th and Spring streets, with police saying commuters should expect heavy delays “as the investigation may impact several city blocks.”
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