Dramatic video shows LAPD shoot hatchet-wielding man in North Hollywood

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Dramatic video shows Los Angeles police shoot a man at close range after the man approached a group of officers while wielding an apparent hatchet.

The shooting happened Thursday around 2 p.m. just outside a Super 8 motel, near the busy intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Saticoy Street in North Hollywood.

Footage shows police communicating with the man from a distance for several minutes. The suspect walks across the street toward officers as he holds a hatchet in his hand.

Police begin shooting less-than-lethal rounds at the man, who seemed unfazed by getting hit. As the man starts getting closer to an officer, he is shot multiple times and falls to the ground.

LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz told reporters at the scene that officers tried to subdue the suspect with "less-lethal" weapons, including bean bags, a Taser and 40 mm munitions.

The man was transported to a hospital in critical condition after he was struck by gunfire.

Muniz described the man's weapon as a "a long-handled hammer with a hatchet blade on the back." She said officers initially responded for a call of an assault with a deadly weapon after the man was reportedly causing damage inside a store nearby. There were several negotiation attempts before the shooting, LAPD said.

Laurel Canyon Boulevard was shut down in both directions as a heavy police presence descended on the area.

No other injuries were reported.