An armed man was shot and wounded by police officers in Koreatown Saturday night, resulting in a prolonged standoff before he was taken into custody.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Olympic Division responded to a call of a man with a rifle acting erratically at a 7-Eleven in the area of Kenmore Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard just before 9:30 p.m. Saturday night.
Upon arriving on scene, officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, and that’s when the first exchange of gunfire occurred, police said.
After the suspect, only described as a white man in his 30s, was struck by gunfire, he tried to flee from authorities, and officers opened fire again.
“He then barricaded himself behind the stairwell of a building near the intersection of 7th Street and Vermont Avenue,” LAPD said in a tweet. “Officers were aware that the suspect was struck by gunfire and in need of medical treatment.”
SWAT responded to the scene and attempted to get the man to come out from behind the stairwell by utilizing a remote-controlled tracked vehicle to assess the suspect’s condition and try to retrieve his weapons.
The tracked vehicle was unable to retrieve the weapons, so SWAT then deployed a quadruped unmanned ground vehicle, which was able to remove both firearms from the suspect and allow officers to provide him with medical treatment, authorities said.
“The suspect was taken into custody and transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition,” LAPD said.
No officers or bystanders were injured during the incident, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The area near the intersection of Vermont Avenue and 7th Street along with Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue will remain closed for several hours, police said.
