A suspect wounded in an officer-involved shooting in South Los Angeles last month was armed with a knife when he got out of a vehicle that had been reported stolen, and then tried to remove an officer’s gun from its holster, police said Wednesday.
The suspect was shot around 4:30 p.m. Oct. 27 in the area of Magnolia Avenue and 27th Street. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and remains hospitalized, but an update on his condition was not available.
Police have refused to release the suspect’s name, but he was identified by the Los Angeles Times as 30-year-old Oscar Ovidio Diaz Gonzalez.
Two Southwest Division officers involved in the confrontation were also were taken to a hospital, where they were treated for arm abrasions and multiple cuts, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
A knife was recovered at the scene, police said.
After being pulled over, the man, armed with a knife, got out of the vehicle “and engaged in a verbal altercation with the officers,” police said.
“The altercation became physical when the officers attempted to detain him,” according to police. “The officers and suspect fell to the ground and fought over the knife. During the altercation, the suspect attempted to remove the officer’s gun from the holster, resulting in an officer-involved shooting.”
Gonzalez was booked in absentia on suspicion of attempted murder on Oct. 28 because he was hospitalized, police said.
— Wire reports