Full Notification

LAPD detectives area investigating citizen reports of a man with a gun who was pointing it at bystanders around 10:30 pm last night, January 16, near 5th Street and San Julian Street, in the heart of Skid Row.

"This is an area where hundreds of people sleep on the street every night," said Lt. Paul Vernon, of the Central Police Station.

Witnesses directed passing police officers to the apartment of the armed man, and security footage at the James M. Wood Apartments showed the man entered the building with a gun in his hand.

As officers approached the 4th floor apartment, they could hear yelling inside, indicating more than one person was in the room.

Officers were formulating a plan to contain the room and call out the man when he opened the door suddenly and stepped into the hallway. An officer-involved-shooting occurred, and the gunman retreated into the apartment momentarily then surrendered to officers.

Believing another person was inside the room and may be in jeopardy, the officers entered the apartment and rescued a woman. A cocked semi-automatic handgun lay inside the apartment. The woman was not injured, and detectives are questioning her.

The man was treated for wounds to his legs from a shotgun blast. He is expected to live. The gunman is 33 years old. The James M Woods apartments are a single-resident-occupancy complex and residents must be referred to the facility for residency.

Witnesses who said they were on the street when the incident began, described the man as upset over someone stealing his laptop. They described him retrieving the gun from a backpack on the sidewalk, then pointing it at people, including a woman in a wheelchair.

At the time of this report, the gunman had not been book. His name will be available once he is charged.

This officer-involved-shooting was the first in Skid Row since March of 2009.

In 2010, officers made nearly 12,000 arrests downtown and used force in 97 incidents, for a use-of-force rate of 8 uses of force for every 1,000 arrests. The use-of-force rate for the entire City is 10 uses of force in 1,000 arrests.

"Given that large number of arrests and the high number of mentally challenged persons in Skid Row, this lower use-of-force rate is a credit to all the officers who work Skid Row," Lt. Paul Vernon explained.

Guns are described in crimes in about 2% of crimes reported in the downtown area.