Long Beach police shoot, kill man who allegedly tried to rob a home in the Hamilton neighborhood
Officers found what turned out to be a non-functioning replica gun at the scene.
Long Beach police shot and killed a man they believed was armed with a gun and committing a home invasion robbery just north of the 91 Freeway Friday night, according to a Long Beach Police Department news release.
In the release, police said officers were called to the 6800 block of Cerritos Avenue just after 8:30 p.m. for a report of a person with a gun inside a home.
There, police say a man armed with a replica gun entered the home that had two adults and a teenager inside and tried to rob them.
When police arrived, authorities said the man was still inside the home’s yard. Officers were able to locate the three victims and get them out of the home.
The suspect, meanwhile, remained in the yard where police attempted to get him to surrender for over an hour, according to the LBPD.
But he refused, prompting Long Beach police to call in their SWAT team, authorities said.
As SWAT officers were preparing to take control of the scene, at least one LBPD officer shot the man once in the upper body, police said.
The man was treated by paramedics at the scene and was then taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. Police did not immediately identify him.
Police did not explain what prompted the officer to shoot or how many officers fired their weapons.
No one else was injured and the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
The involved officers were using body-worn cameras, and the footage will eventually be available to the public after the department reviews it, they added.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office will also review the case, a standard practice after a shooting involving an officer.
The fatal shooting involving LBPD officers comes just over a week after police shot and killed a man they said refused to drop a gun at MacArthur Park.
Long Beach Watchdog is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
We need your support.
Subcribe to the Watchdog today.
The Long Beach Watchdog is owned by journalists, and paid for by readers like you. If independent, local reporting like the story you just read is important to you, support our work by becoming a subscriber.
