A man waving a machete in the middle of a Los Angeles street was shot by a police officer Sunday morning in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.
Officers were dispatched at 9:14 a.m. Sunday to the area of Figueroa Street and Olympic Boulevard after reports of a man in the street waving a machete and chanting, according to Officer Norma Eisenman, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
“The suspect advanced toward the officers before entering the driver’s seat of a black Dodge Challenger,” according to an LAPD statement. The car fled south on Figueroa Street with officers in pursuit.
“The pursuit ended on Figueroa Street, just south of 12th Street, where the suspect — who was the sole occupant of the vehicle — exited while still armed with the machete,” police said. “The suspect charged at officers, and an officer-involved shooting occurred.”
The suspect was wounded by the gunfire and officers rendered aid at the scene, police said. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he underwent surgery.
Officers recovered the machete and booked it as evidence, police said.
Figueroa Street remained shut down between Olympic and Pico boulevards for the police shooting investigation.