A shirtless, machete-wielding suspect was shot and critically injured by police outside UCI Health in Los Alamitos Wednesday, prompting a lockdown at the medical facility.
The shooting occurred at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 3700 block of Katella Avenue, following a pursuit involving the Long Beach Police Department.
According to LBPD, the pursuit started with a road-rage incident involving a paramedic vehicle that was transporting a patient just after 10 a.m. After the suspect vehicle was tracked down, the driver bailed and ran away and officers established a perimeter and dispatched a SWAT team, police said.
The shooting at Cherry Street and Florista Street involved the Los Alamitos Police Department but not the LBPD, authorities said.
Video from the scene posted on the Citizen app showed a man wearing sunglasses and shorts, but no shirt, pacing outside a building near the medical center and carrying a large machete. Numerous police officers were positioned nearby with weapons drawn.
Robert Acosta of the Los Alamitos Police Department said his department and Cypress police were called to assist in tracking down the suspect. He was “contained but not detained” as a crisis negotiator tried to de-escalate the situation, Acosta said.
“That was unsuccessful,” Acosta said. “Then they tried to detain him with a less-than-lethal device, but that was also ineffective and the suspect started running toward officers with a machete.”
He was shot as he charged officers, Acosta said.
The suspect, whose name was not immediately released, was rushed to an area hospital where he was in critical but stable condition, Acosta added.
The UCI Health facility was placed on lockdown during the police activity, but there were no immediate reports of any other injuries beyond the suspect.
UCI Health issued the following statement:
“Caring for patients is our top priority at UCI Health – Los Alamitos. We are actively monitoring police activity in the area. UCI Health co-workers and patients are safe. Patient care remains uninterrupted.”