A California man called police Saturday night, telling them he wanted to commit suicide by cop.
Long Beach police fulfilled his request within an hour, shooting him dead in the street in an incident captured on video.
Police say the man “charged” at them with a knife.
The vide shows the man crossing the street with his arm extended before he is gunned down by several bullets.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
The incident began about 9:15 p.m. when police received a call from a man who said he was armed with a handgun and wanted to commit “suicide by cop,” according to a statement from the Long Beach Police Department.
Officers arrived in the 1600 block of Obispo Avenue and attempted to communicate with the man, to no avail, according to police.
Police used a helicopter to find the man in the area, and officers determined he had “something in his hands,” police said.
Police officers, including a mental-evaluation officer, were adjusting their position to better negotiate with the man about 10:15 p.m. when the man “charged at officers,” the police statement said.
Neither Long Beach police or the Los Angeles County Coroner have released the name of the man killed, but police did release a photo of the knife they say he was holding.
The video was recorded by OnScene.TV, a Southern California company that routinely captures breaking news to sell footage to local television news stations. View the video here.
