A body lays on the ground after a gunman was killed by police after opening fire randomly on vehicles at a busy traffic intersection in Hollywood, critically injuring one person, a spokesman and reports said.
Los Angeles - A gunman was killed by police on Friday after opening fire randomly on vehicles at a busy traffic intersection in Hollywood, critically injuring one person, a spokesman and reports said.
The shooting occurred on Sunset Boulevard at the junction with Vine Street, a few blocks away from Hollywood's tourist centre around the Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame along Hollywood Boulevard.
“The suspect was randomly shooting at vehicles and people. Police responded and the suspect was shot and killed,” Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) spokesman Gregory Baek told AFP.
One victim was injured and taken to hospital, he added, giving no further details. The Los Angeles Times reported that the victim was hit in the head and critically injured.
One witness recounted how the gunman was walking down the middle of the road with his gun pointed in the air, and firing at passing cars.
“I saw a Mercedes making a turn from Sunset to Vine going southbound,” witness Oscar Herrera told CBS2 television. “And he looked at him, and he started shooting at him, hit the car.
“Then, another car went by here, and he shot (at) him too. And another car goes northbound on Vine, and he shot at that one, too.”
He continued: “So, then he turned around, and was going back, shooting... But I guess he ran out of bullets, so he took out his knife and he put the gun in his waist and he walked down there.
“And that's when a policeman came this way, near the bank, and he saw him with the knife and the gun (and) he started shooting at him like maybe four or five times.
The man was screaming, “Kill me ... I'm gonna die!” before the police officer shot him dead, he said.
The incident snarled traffic in the area for much of the rest of the day after police sealed off several blocks around the area, leaving the gunman's body, covered in a white sheet, where he fell as officers questioned witnesses.
The motive for the shooting was unclear. “We don't know why” the gunman opened fire, said the LAPD spokesman.
Shootings are a regular occurrence in Los Angeles, including in Hollywood, which centres on the busy tourist area but also has gritty and rundown parts of town, on the northern edge of the LA metropolis.