Knife-Wielding Suspect Fatally Shot By Police After He Allegedly Attacked Sister
CULVER CITY (CBSLA) -- A knife-wielding suspect was fatally shot by police in Culver City Saturday afternoon.
The shooting happened on the corner of Culver and Mentone Avenues. Officials were called to the location just before 2 p.m. on a report of a domestic violence situation.
Police said the 30-year-old man with the butcher-type knife had attacked his 27-year-old sister and slashed her several times.
The woman ran to get help and to get away from her brother.
Witnesses said they saw the man run down an alley before he was met by police officers in front of an apartment complex.
"My girlfriend was walking out to go to the laundry room of our apartment," said one man, "and basically we heard like five or six shots and really in rapid succession. And then she ran into the house and said 'they're shooting.' So, she freaked out."
The man said he came out to investigate.
"I saw what appeared to be a white male on the ground, and it looked like the police shot him," said the man.
The suspect was declared dead after being transported to the hospital.
CBS2's Jeff Nguyen spoke to a resident who lives a few feet from where the suspect was shot.
"We heard somebody yell something," says Mark Brovard, "and then we heard about eight or nine shots. And after about a minute or so, we came out and peaked around the back end of the building and we saw a man laying in the street."
Alicia Galindo says the sister ran to one of her neighbors trying to get help.
"This woman came running saying 'Help me, help me, my brother's trying to kill me.'"
The crime rocked the normally tranquil area.
"We've been living here for 20 years," Galindo says, "Nothing like this has ever happened."
Two Culver City officers encountered the brother about two weeks away from the apartment where the attack occurred.
They said he refused to drop the knife and lunged at them.
"It appeared to be some type of kitchen, cleaver-type knife," said Lt. Joe Mendoza with the LA County Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff's said the woman suffered serious cuts to the face and body in the attack. She had a towel over her face but they said there was quite a bit of blood.
The woman underwent surgery and is expected to survive, Nguyen reported.
The Culver City Police Department has asked the L.A. County Sheriff's Department lto look into the officer-involved shooting for transparency and to avoid a conflict of interest.
The knife was recovered.