Suspect is shot, killed after he reportedly fired on police
Officer is wounded in the Wilmington confrontation, which included a short car chase.
Los Angeles police shot and killed a man this afternoon in Wilmington after authorities said he fired at them several times, with one of the rounds from his gun ricocheting off an officer's protective vest and grazing his body. The officer was taken to a hospital where he is expected to recover fully.
The incident began shortly after 3:30 p.m. near Pacific Coast Highway and Eubank Avenue. Officers had intended to arrest the man, who authorities said was in a street gang and was wanted for threatening law enforcement officers' lives. According to initial police accounts, after an eight-minute car pursuit, officers purposefully collided with the man's vehicle in order to spin him to a halt shortly before 3:45 p.m.
The man then left his vehicle and fired at officers who returned fire hitting him at least twice, according to police. He was not immediately identified by police.
The man's gun, which apparently flew out of his hand when he was fatally wounded, was found embedded in a police vehicle, a purple SUV used by detectives, according to investigators at the scene.
Two women traveling in the man's vehicle were not harmed, authorities said.
richard.winton@latimes.com
