Man fatally shot by LAPD in Lake Balboa

A man was fatally shot by Los Angeles police Monday afternoon after he was reportedly acting bizarrely and standing in traffic on a neighborhood street in Lake Balboa, officials said.

Two officers responded about 1 p.m. to the neighborhood in the 17400 block of Stagg Street after receiving a call about the man, LAPD Lt. John Jenal said.

As a police helicopter flew over the area, the officers observed the man and his strange behavior, so they deployed a Taser to de-escalate the situation, he said. But the Taser wasn’t effective, so officers shot bean bag rounds at him, Jenal said.

As the situation escalated, shots were fired and the man was killed, Jenal said.

It was unclear how many shots were fired or whether police were engaged in a struggle before the shooting. The officers were not seriously injured, he said.

Police don’t know why the man was acting bizarrely, but they are looking into whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or whether he had mental health issues, Jenal said.

As police investigated the shooting, officers found a victim who they said was assaulted by the suspect in the area of Andasol Avenue and Stagg Street, he said. It is unclear whether the victim was hospitalized.

Detectives planned to interview any witnesses to the incident. Police have not recovered any surveillance video in the area.

The officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras, Jenal said. LAPD’s West Valley Division is not yet equipped with the devices.

The man, who was described as a Latino and in his mid-30s, is the 34th person shot by the LAPD this year. Nineteen of them died.

Los Angeles police shot 26 people in 2014, 18 fatally. The number of people shot by LAPD officers fluctuated in previous years: 35 people were shot in 2013, 29 the year before and 47 in 2011.

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