A shirtless, machete-wielding suspect was shot and critically injured by police outside UCI Health in Los Alamitos on Wednesday, July 22, prompting a lockdown at the medical facility.
The shooting occurred shortly before midday near the 3700 block of Katella Avenue, following a pursuit involving Long Beach police.
The pursuit started with a road-rage incident involving a paramedic vehicle that was transporting a patient just after 10 a.m., Long Beach police said.
After the suspect’s vehicle was tracked down, the driver bailed and ran and officers established a perimeter and dispatched a SWAT team, police said.
The shooting at Cherry and Florista streets involved Los Alamitos police, authorities said.
A man wearing sunglasses and shorts and no shirt was pacing outside a building near the medical center and carrying a large machete. Numerous police officers positioned nearby with weapons drawn.
The suspect began to flee when officers opened fire, apparently deploying less-than-lethal rounds.
Robert Acosta, a Los Alamitos Police Department spokesman, told KTLA5 that police initially tried to “de-escalate” the situation with crisis negotiators, but those efforts were unsuccessful. Police then deployed less-than-lethal rounds, which “aggravated him and caused him to start running in the direction of officers carrying a machete.”
“The officers went ahead and fired shots at the suspect, wounding him critically,” Acosta said.
The suspect was hospitalized in critical condition.
The UCI Health facility was placed on lockdown during the police activity but there were no reports of any other injury.
“UCI Health co-workers and patients are safe,” UCI Health said. “Patient care remains uninterrupted.”