A knife-wielding man suffered apparently non-life-threatening bullet wounds Monday when a California Highway Patrol officer opened fire on him as he allegedly charged the lawman alongside Interstate 805 in the Lincoln Park area.
The officer had just wrapped up a traffic stop on the northbound side of the freeway near Imperial Avenue when the suspect pulled up behind his cruiser on the right-hand shoulder of the roadway about 8 a.m., CHP spokesman Jake Sanchez said.
Approaching the driver’s car to find out why he had pulled over, the officer saw that the man was armed with a knife. The patrolman then went back to his cruiser and radioed for backup.
At that point, the suspect got out of his car and walked toward the officer, still holding the weapon, Sanchez said. Ignoring the officer’s commands to drop the knife, the suspect charged him, prompting the patrolman to open fire.
The officer then took the man into custody and rendered first-aid prior to the arrival of paramedics, who took the suspect to a trauma center. The man, whose name was not immediately available, was expected to survive his wounds, Sanchez said.
It was unclear what prompted the suspect’s actions leading up to the shooting, the spokesman said.
The shooting led to a closure of the northbound side of the freeway in the area into the early afternoon, according to the Highway Patrol.
Updated at 12:50 p.m. April 24, 2023
–City News Service
