Woman Killed In Police Shooting In South LA Was Armed With Knife, LAPD Says

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Two Los Angeles officers shot and killed a woman police say was armed with a knife in South Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department says officers responded to a call of an armed woman at 22nd and San Pedro streets around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.

When officers arrived, they found a woman police say was armed with a knife that had an eight-inch blade, according to CBS2/KCAL9 Reporter Greg Mills.

The shooting took place soon after although it remains unclear what led up to it.

Sgt. Frank Preciado of the LAPD said a knife was recovered. However, a woman who said she witnessed the shooting said the woman killed was unarmed.

Paramedics were sent to the area at 9:42 a.m. and rushed the woman to a nearby hospital, where she died.

A man who knew her said she was homeless and lived in the park. According to him, she always asked him for money. He claims the last time she asked him for money, she threatened him.

A number of people who knew the woman said she was mentally ill and often had screaming fits that alarmed people.

"There was some mention that officers had made contact with her in the past," the sergeant said.

One of the two LAPD officers involved in the incident is a training officer while the other is a probationary officer.

Both are being placed on administrative leave as is standard protocol after any officer-involved shooting.

"Immediately they were removed from actual patrolling duties," Sgt. Preciado said. "There is a 24-hour briefing that's done with the chief. The chief will review that and then by the time that
Force Investigation completes their investigation within 72 hours."

The sergeant said the officers involved and witnesses will be interviewed. Footage from the officers' body cameras, which were on at the time, will also be reviewed, Mills said.