LAPD officers shoot and killed a knife-wielding suspect as the elevator doors opened

According to an LAPD news release, the most recent shooting occurred when officers were called to a report of a man with a knife who had threatened another person at the Ford Hotel in Skid Row.

When they arrived, a security guard directed them to the 6th floor. As they stepped off the elevator, they encountered a man holding an umbrella and a knife, the release said. Police said the officers ordered the man to drop the knife, but instead he raised it above his head and “advanced toward” them. Officers Diego Bracamontes and Hayley Basile both shot the man with their service firearms. The 56-year-old man, who police have not yet named, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said another officer also fired a projectile from a less-lethal weapon during the incident. The Times has not yet independently verified the department’s account of events.

The incident happened around 11:30 a.m. on July 20, at the Ford, a century-old former hotel in the 1000 block of E. 7th Street that has been turned into single-room-occupancy housing for people on the brink of homelessness.

On Tuesday, Chief Michel Moore told the Police Commission that officers were immediately confronted by the man as soon as the elevator doors opened. Moore said he was limited in what he could say by the “very active investigation” of the incident, but preliminary information indicated the man had previously threatened police.