A man who walked through the streets of Los Angeles waving a machete is in the hospital after he was shot by police Sunday morning.
LAPD officers responded around 9:20 am to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon near the Crypto.com arena on Figueroa Street and Olympic Boulevard. Witnesses reported the suspect was flailing a large machete and chanting at bystanders.
The suspect charged at police officers when they arrived on the scene, then jumped into his car and led the officers on a brief chase. He drove a black Dodge Challenger in circles around police vehicles and rammed into one patrol car. When he exited his vehicle across the road from police, he began running toward officers, wielding the machete as he charged.
Police opened fire and struck the suspect, who was transferred to a hospital where he underwent surgery and remains in critical condition.
Footage captured by bystanders in nearby buildings shows the tense moments before the shooting.
"You can only give so many warnings," Detective Meghan Aguilar with the LAPD told KABC. "Each officer has to make a decision based on their training and their experience when they constitute using deadly force, in regards to whether it is a handgun or an edged weapon."
"Again, this was a very large machete," she added. "The behaviors of the individual were very aggressive and violent."
The machete was recovered at the scene and the investigation remains ongoing.
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