Road rage and DUI are believed to be factors that led to a chase and shooting of a suspect who allegedly wielded a machete and withstood less-lethal rounds before being wounded by Los Alamitos police.
Officers responded about 10:05 a.m. Wednesday to the assist Long Beach Fire Department personnel who reported a vehicle driving erratically in front of their ambulance as they were transporting a patient in the area of Palo Verde Avenue and Willow Street, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
“Responding officers located the vehicle nearby, which continued driving erratically, resulting in vehicle pursuit,” according to a Long Beach Police Department statement. “The male adult subject stopped the vehicle and fled on foot in the area of Katella Avenue and Cherry Street in the city of Los Alamitos.”
Officers reported seeing the suspect with a machete, prompting the summoning of a SWAT unit, which surrounded the area.
“Nearby police agencies responded to assist with the incident,” police said.
Despite attempts to de-escalate the crisis, officers fired 40mm less-lethal rounds at the suspect and unleashed a police dog.
“An outside agency officer-involved shooting occurred,” according to the LBPD statement, which added that no LBPD officers discharged their service weapons and referred additional questions to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
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 listed 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 injuries other than the suspect’s.
Anyone with information about the case was urged to call homicide detectives Ethan Shear or Kelsey Myers at 562-570-7244.