Police shoot man who they say waved gun at workers in Fairfax area and fired on officers

Los Angeles police officers on Friday shot a man who they say was pointing a gun at construction workers in the Fairfax district before opening fire on police.

The man was taken into custody and transported to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to
Lt. Letisia Ruiz, an LAPD spokeswoman.

No one else was injured in the shooting, Ruiz said. The man was not immediately identified.

Police received a radio call at 9:20 a.m. about “a man with a gun pointing it at construction workers” and responded to the area, Ruiz said.

The officers confronted the man near North La Brea Avenue and Beverly Boulevard, and “the suspect immediately opened fire at the officers,” Ruiz said.

At least one officer fired back, striking the man, Ruiz said. She said she did not know how many officers had opened fire, how many shots officers fired or how many shots the suspect fired, but she said all of that would be part of the investigation.

George Garcia, 38, a recruiter who lives nearby, said he was on a Zoom call for work when he heard gunshots outside his apartment.

He said it sounded as though a quick cluster of shots was fired, followed by another volley.

Garcia said crime had picked up in the area amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but things seemed to be getting better recently. He wouldn’t expect a gunman to threaten people or for gunfire to erupt on his street — particularly in the morning — but it didn’t shock him, he said.

“It’s L.A.,” he said. “I wish it wasn’t like this.”

After the shooting, the suspect ran west on Beverly, and officers lost sight of him, Ruiz said. However, police received 911 calls that helped them locate the suspect again in the area of Beverly and Detroit Street, which runs parallel to La Brea.

“A plan was formulated, and he was taken into custody without further incident,” Ruiz said.

The investigation shut down traffic in all directions for hours Friday.

The shooting was the 13th by LAPD officers this year and the ninth in which someone was struck by police rounds. Four people have been killed by police this year.

Those numbers are below where they stood at the same time last year.