L.A. car chase ends in cops shooting dead axe-wielding man

Video shows the suspect climbing onto a police cruiser

A police pursuit of a man terrorizing Los Angeles-area residents with an axe ended in the fatal shooting of the suspect.

El Segundo police received reportedly received numerous reports Wednesday afternoon of a man roaming around the area near Los Angeles International airport, waving around an axe or a machete. When they arrived to the scene, the suspect got into an SUV and fled.

Ran Parsons, who lived in the area, was one of those witnesses who called in a report. “He had a hatchet in his hand and he was walking towards my neighbor who was in his car facing in this direction and he was pointing the hatchet at him,” Parsons told Fox 11.

“The police department received a call of a suspect approaching people in the area of McCarthy Court and Imperial (Avenue), wielding an ax or a machete and threatening them,” El Segundo police Capt. Brian Evanski told KNX Newsradio.

Police reportedly followed the suspect for a short while in the Westchester area of Los Angeles, just north of LAX. After he was cornered by a police maneuver, the suspect got out of his car, still holding the weapon, and climbed on top of a police cruiser. It was then that he was shot by police, and died. TMZ published a video of the car chase and shooting:

 

The name of the suspect has not been released, pending the notification of family members.