A 33-year-old man who was fatally shot by Los Angeles police after allegedly threatening people with a baseball bat and striking multiple occupied vehicles in the West Adams District was identified Monday.
The shooting occurred July 29 after officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Olympic Station responded at about 6:25 p.m. to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon at a gas station at the intersection of Normandie Avenue and Washington Boulevard, according to the LAPD.
“The reporting party stated that the suspect, armed with a metal bat, had shattered the windows of multiple vehicles and attempted to strike passing community members,” an LAPD statement read. “As officers approached the location, the overhead air unit advised the officers that the suspect was walking southbound on Normandie Avenue beneath the Interstate 10 (Santa Monica) Freeway.”
The man was still armed with an aluminum bat as officers arrived, exited their patrol vehicle and ordered the suspect to drop the weapon, police said.
“The suspect refused to comply with verbal direction, continued advancing toward the officers and raised the bat with both hands into a swinging position, resulting in an officer-involved shooting,” the LAPD said.
Officers took the suspect into custody and rendered aid to the wounded man, who was struck by one round, before he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, police said.
He was identified Monday by the county Medical Examiner as Alejandro Lopez Garcia, who sustained a gunshot wound to the upper body.
No civilians or officers were injured, police said. The bat was recovered at the scene and booked into evidence.