Los Angeles police Monday released preliminary findings from their investigation into a SWAT response in Jefferson Park that resulted in at least one shot being fired at a suspect who allegedly stabbed himself multiple times before being taken into custody.
Around 1:10 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a radio call of a shooting outside a home in the 2300 block of West 23rd Street, between Cimarron Street and Gramercy Place, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers were told a 90-year-old man was reported to have been shot by the suspect, later identified as Andrew Smith, 40, and was down in front of the house.
Officers found the downed victim and as they approached, they spotted Smith, who started firing at officers.
At least one officer returned fire and Smith, who was not hit, retreated into the house and out of sight, prompting officers to cordon off the area and call in a SWAT team.
“Upon arrival, SWAT personnel, along with the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Tactical Emergency Medical Support unit, conducted a rescue operation and moved the victim to safety,” according to an LAPD statement.
The LAFD tactical unit pronounced the victim dead from apparent stab wounds, police said.
“After a prolonged stand-off with Smith failing to surrender, SWAT element members entered the residence and located him in a second-floor bedroom where he was taken into custody without further incident,” police said.
The standoff ended about 9:15 p.m.
Fire department personnel took Smith to a hospital, where he was treated for numerous self-inflicted stab wounds and lacerations. He was listed in critical but stable condition, police said.
Other than the victim, no officers or civilians were injured.
“A loaded 9mm assault rifle-style, semi-automatic pistol, three high-capacity magazines, a large folding knife and two large, fixed-blade knives were recovered from inside the residence and booked as evidence,” according to the LAPD, whose Force Investigation Division is investigating the encounter along with the department’s Robbery Homicide Division.
LAPD South Bureau detectives are investigating the fatality.
The victim’s name was not immediately available.