A man was shot and killed by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies after a brief chase in a South Los Angeles neighborhood after they say he kidnapped a woman and shot at good Samaritans.
The shooting was reported at about 4 a.m. in Vermont Vista. Aerial video showed several patrol vehicles and yellow police tape in a residential neighborhood cul-de-sac.
The man was initially wanted for assault with a deadly weapon, according to authorities. The pursuit lasted only about one minute.
Deputies say the man they shot had kidnapped and raped a woman and shot at three good Samaritans all in the span of 30 minutes. They say it started with an informant following the suspect vehicle near 103rd and Figueroa after allegedly seeing the man take a woman at gunpoint.
"The individual followed the suspect vehicle for a short time until it reached 127th Street and Budlong, during which time the suspect of the vehicle, a silver SUV, exited the vehicle and began firing at the informant," Lt. Scott Hoglund said.
That driver backed off, and deputies say another passerby was shot at too, and called 911. By then, deputies say the vehicle was parked.
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"They approached the vehicle, they saw the windows were fogged up as if people were inside of it. As they got closer they saw an unclothed female in the backseat of the vehicle," Hoglund said.
That’s when investigators say the man jumped in the driver’s seat to take off.
"As the car began to move, the victim jumped out of the suspect vehicle," Hoglund said.
A short pursuit ended where 108th dead-ends off Vermont. The man crashed the SUV and ran. At least one deputy fired multiple shots, killing the man. Investigators say they recovered a gun and are now hoping surveillance cameras and witnesses can help fill-in the blanks on what happened. The South LA Sheriff’s station has not issued body worn cameras to deputies yet.
The shooting was one of three in the area Thursday morning. In the Vermont Square area, a man who pointed a gun at a group of people at a gas station was shot and killed by Los Angeles police. Another shooting was reported at a nearby gas station in which one man was killed.
There was no indication that the shootings are related.
John Cadiz Klemack contributed to this report.
