Los Angeles police on Sunday shot and killed an unidentified man in the poverty-stricken Skid Row neighborhood after an alleged struggle over an officer's firearm.
A bystander caught the shooting on video, which quickly spread across social media.
Warning: Graphic footage of the shooting:
The video shows multiple police officers struggling with the man after he fell to the floor. After a brief scuffle, an officer yelled, "Drop the gun," multiple times. Police then fired at least five times, although it's unclear how many gunshots were fired in total.
Police told the Los Angeles Times that they approached and made contact with the man, and he "began fighting and physically resisting the officers." Police said the officers first tried to use a Taser, but it was "ineffective." They also claimed there was some sort of struggle over one of the officer's handguns.
While on the ground,suspect and #lapd officers struggled over one of officer's handgun at which point an officer involved shooting occurred
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) March 2, 2015
Officers were reportedly responding to a 911 call about a possible robbery when they arrived to the scene.
Authorities are still investigating the shooting. Police have not publicly identified the man who was fatally shot, but an official told the Los Angeles Times that it's unclear if he was homeless. Multiple people in the neighborhood, which is known for its high homeless population, referred to the man by his street name, "Africa," in interviews with the Los Angeles Times.
A Los Angeles Times data analysis found there have been 12 fatal police shootings in downtown Los Angeles since 2000.
Similar shootings in the past year have led to a broader nationwide discussion about police use of force, particularly against black and Hispanic men. In August, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, in a shooting that led to nationwide protests. Last month, police shot and killed Antonio Zambrano-Montes, an unarmed Hispanic 35-year-old, in Pasco, Washington, in an incident that was compared to Ferguson.
