Authorities Thursday identified a man who was fatally shot by Torrance police after he allegedly brandished a knife in a parking lot near a gym.
The shooting occurred about 8:50 a.m. June 1 in the 20000 block of Hawthorne Boulevard, said Torrance police Sgt. Ronald Harris.
Juan Perez-Victor, 38, died at the scene, the coroner’s office reported. His home town was not known.
Officers went to the location in response to “a service call involving a subject brandishing a knife in the area of Planet Fitness,” Harris said shortly after the shooting.
“Responding officers contacted the subject, who refused to comply with commands,” the sergeant said. “Officers initially utilized various less-lethal options, but the subject continued toward them. The subject continually refused to comply, at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred.”
Brandon Hallock told Fox11 that the fatally wounded man was armed with a knife and had threatened at least two people before police arrived.
“When people would come around him, he would wave that knife at them,” Hallock said. “He was wiping the knife on the ground repeatedly. Then, the police came and he was sitting on the ground. They asked him to put down the knife, to cooperate with them, and he eventually decided he didn’t want to do that.
“He picked up the knife off of the ground, and was wiping it on the ground again, and he then got shot by beanbags from the police officers,” Hallock said. “He then got up off of the ground. He started to — it looked to me — like pump himself up, get ready for this action. His back was to the police. Then, he turned around, and he walked directly to the police. And it looked he was not going to stop … and that’s when they opened fire on him.”