Officer-involved shooting leaves armed suspect dead at Metro station in downtown, LAPD says

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles police shot and killed an armed suspect Thursday morning at the busy 7th Street/Metro Center station in downtown, authorities said.

A witness told ABC7 that the man had a knife, which officers told him to drop. Police opened fire after he failed to drop the weapon, the witness said.

No officers were injured in the incident, which occurred shortly before 7 a.m. on the station's upper platform.

"They encountered the suspect and they tried to de-escalate the situation," said Lt. Chris Ramirez, an LAPD spokesman. "The officers deployed a less-lethal option which was ineffective, and an officer-involved shooting occurred."

The suspect, identified only as being in his 30s or 40s, died at the scene.

The circumstances that led to the confrontation were under investigation.