LOS ANGELES—Five recent shootings by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers involved violent actions by armed suspects, a trend that the LAPD has characterized as being “consistent with the increase in violence we are experiencing in the city.”
“The violent situations in these five [officer-involved shooting] incidents are unique given the number of hostage situations,” police said in a statement. “Four of the five incidents involved hostage situations where officers were thrust into evolving incidents where a hostage was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. The other factor is the number of suspects experiencing a mental illness.”
