Authorities on Tuesday identified a man who was shot dead by Los Angeles police after taking a woman hostage at gunpoint in a downtown high-rise apartment.
Rudy Anderson, 45, died at the scene of the shooting Friday, Los Angeles County Forensic Medicine reported. His place of residence was not known.
Los Angeles Police Department said the LAPD Central Division received radio calls around 4:10 p.m. Friday from an armed man who had committed several crimes in the Eighth Street and Broadway area.
The suspect approached a man on the sidewalk near Eighth and Broadway, put a gun in the man’s face and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire, police said.
The gunman entered a store on Broadway’s 700 block that housed three family members, including a 14-year-old boy, police said. The suspect pointed a gun at the group and fired, and one of the bullets grazed the side of the boy’s head, police said. The boy was treated in a hospital and was supposed to survive.
The man then went to Sixth and Spring Streets, where he tried to ambush a woman standing in front of her vehicle, but failed, police said.
Security officers reported as LAPD officers and chased the suspect to an apartment complex on Sixth Street and Main Street.
Officers set up a perimeter and began calling in additional resources, including a SWAT team and a K-9 unit.
“While a tactical plan was being drawn up, the officers became aware of surveillance footage from inside the apartment complex,” police said.
“They (officials) saw the suspect in a hallway armed with a gun and forced a woman to come with him.”
In a statement released on Saturday, police said, “At that point, we knew we were being held hostage. While outside the complex, LAPD staff saw through a window the suspect holding a gun to the hostage’s head.
Due to the already incredibly violent actions and fear that the suspect would kill the hostage, SWAT entered the apartment. An OIS (officer-involved shootout) occurred and the suspect was shot in and died on the scene. ”
Due to the already incredibly violent acts and fear that the suspect would kill the hostage, SWAT entered the apartment. An OIS broke out and the suspect was shot in and died on the scene. The hostage was taken to a local hospital. The gun is at the scene.
– LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) October 9, 2021
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