Bodycam video shows LAPD shooting of man with knife in Sylmar
SYLMAR, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- LAPD has released bodycamera video and a detailed narrative of an incident in which officers shot a man in Sylmar who was armed with a knife.
The man survived but was seriously injured and hospitalized in critical condition.
The incident started the afternoon of March 13 in the 14000 block of Foothill Boulevard.
Officers were called to the area on a report of a man with mental illness who was attacking family members.
Police say the suspect, 29-year-old Carlos Zepeda Jr. of Los Angeles, had forced his way into an apartment and struck one of his family members with a wooden stick.
Video shows officers open the apartment door and try to convince Zepeda to talk. He comes to the door and can be seen holding the stick and then closes the door.
A barricade situation then ensued for hours. SWAT officers arrived, including a negotiation tem and a mental health assessment team.
Eventually SWAT officers used a chemical agent to force him out of the apartment. They say he was armed with a large kitchen knife with a blade longer than 9 inches. They say he ignored commands to put the blade down and kept advancing toward them even when they fired less-lethal projectiles.
The officers then discharged their weapons multiple times, striking Zepeda.
He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
No officers were injured. The family member that was struck with the stick earlier in the day declined medical treatment.
Zepeda was later arrested and booked. The District Attorney's Office filed charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, assault with a deadly weapon and five counts of resisting an executive officer.
Officers seized evidence that included the kitchen knife, the wooden stick, a skateboard that he reportedly used as a shield and a tire iron he was also carrying.
