Tehran - FNA
An elderly homeless man was fatally shot four times by Los Angeles police on Sunday in East Hollywood, California.
At around 3:45 pm, the Los Angeles Police Department received a vandalism call, saying an armed suspect began breaking items inside a 99 Cents Only Store at the intersection of Sunset and Hobart boulevards around, press tv reported.
Upon the arrival of the officers, an altercation broke out between the cops and the suspect during which the man was hit with a Taser.
However, the officers shot the man after he refused to drop a knife and a bag of ice which he allegedly stole from the store.
"When the first officers arrived, they saw the suspect outside on the sidewalk in front of the 99 Cents Store armed with a knife and they ordered him to drop the knife," said Los Angeles police Cmdr. Dennis Kato.
"We know that a less lethal Taser was used at that point, somehow, we're not sure yet what the specifics are after the Taser, but he continued to come at the officers, and an officer-involved shooting occurred."
According to a witness, officers shot the man four times while they knew that he was dead.
"They shot him four times, and he was already dead," she said. "He fell on the bag of ice that he stole, and then, all of a sudden, there's this other police guy that comes and hits him two times with a stick."
Other witnesses say that the man was between 70 and 80 years old and had no home and usually frequented the area.