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Long Beach Police Kill 'Erratic' Man, Provoke Angry Crowd
The Long Beach Police Department and the LA County District Attorney's Office are investigating an officer-involved shooting that killed a 46-year-old Samoan man around 7 p.m. Saturday night in a residential neighborhood of Long Beach.
Police responded to multiple calls regarding a man behaving "violently and erratic" in the 3400 block of East 67th Street, according to the police report:
The officers, in an attempt to gain control of the suspect, utilized their batons, which were ineffective. During the ongoing physical confrontation, the officers feared for their lives. To protect himself and the life of his partner, one of the officers fired his weapon at the suspect. The suspect was struck multiple times in the torso and transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased a short time later.
A crowd of about 40 people gathered at the scene in protest, according to the LA Times:
After the shooting, the officers were confronted by dozens of people who were yelling and screaming at them, she said. Fearing the crowd would turn on them, the officers called for backup from Long Beach police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the crowd, apparently residents of the neighborhood, left.
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