L.A. police shoot man accused in L.A. Metro station assault, stabbing

Police officers shot a man accused of assaulting a woman at a Metro train station in East Hollywood and then stabbing another person outside the station Tuesday morning, officials said.

The incident unfolded around 10 a.m. at the Vermont/Beverly Metro station where the suspect was involved in a “physical altercation” with a woman on a train platform, according to Los Angeles Police.

The suspect then fled to the street level where he confronted another man with a knife and then stabbed a different man before police arrived.

“He attempted to flee northbound on Vermont (Boulevard) and that’s where officers made contact with the suspect … and an officer-involved shooting occurred,” Sgt. Leticia Ruiz said at a news briefing.

A witness, who did not want to share his name, provided KTLA with video of the shooting that was recorded from his apartment window. It shows the suspect trying to elude officers by hiding behind a car, even dropping the knife at one point and then picking it up again.

The officers open fire when the suspect, who was wearing grey pants, a black shirt, and carrying a black backpack, appears to charge at one of them.

Investigators say a knife was recovered at the shooting scene.

Both the suspect and the stabbing victim survived and were listed in stable condition.

“The motive and the relationships between everybody involved is unknown at this time,” said Ruiz.

This was the second violent incident on Metro’s Red Line in the past week. Last Thursday morning, a homeless man allegedly bit off a police officer’s finger at the Vermont/Santa Monica station after police confronted him for boarding a train with a meth pipe.