LA police shoot knife-wielding man near the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard - sparking panic among tourists

 LAPD shot a man brandishing a knife near the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard -  after he stabbed a 19-year-old woman and refused to drop the weapon.

Both the unidentified man and the 19-year-old woman who he allegedly stabbed in the stomach are recovering in the hospital after the incident at the intersection of Highland and Hollywood Boulevard, which police said took place around 11.06 am. 

Police said via Twitter that the stabbing victim ran to them for help and led them to the knife-wielding man. The man 'ignored...commands to drop the knife,' and began to approach.

'Several beanbag rounds were deployed [before the] officer-involved shooting occurred,' the department wrote. 

'I saw the thing this morning,' witness Frank Dickerson of Phoenix told Dailymail.com.

'We were looking at the stars and we got to the intersection and there were some people protesting about the vaccine - all of the sudden these cop cars came up and they drew their guns.'

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Both the unidentified man and the 19-year-old woman who he allegedly stabbed in the stomach are recovering in the hospital after the commotion at the intersection of Highland and Hollywood Boulevard, which police said took place around 11.06 am

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Police said via Twitter that the stabbing victim ran to them for help and led them to the knife-wielding man. The man 'ignored...commands to drop the knife,' and began to approach

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'Several beanbag rounds were deployed [before the] officer-involved shooting occurred,' the department wrote 

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'I saw the thing this morning,' witness Frank Dickerson of Phoenix (pictured) told Dailymail.com. 'We were looking at the stars and we got to the intersection and there were some people protesting about the vaccine - all of the sudden these cop cars came up and they drew their guns'

'It was busy... when police came it seemed like they kind of edged out the civilians over... so they weren't in any line of fire or anything. When the shots rang out, you could see people start to panic then, but then some people acted nonchalantly as well - maybe they're used to it.'

Dickerson told Dailymail.com that he 'didn't see any blood at all' after the incident, and that the suspect was still moving after he was shot by police.  

The area of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue was closed off for a number of hours after the incident, and traffic was diverted to Sunset Boulevard, the department said. 

 'An armed man on Hollywood Boulevard even attracted police helicopters,' wrote @eltirado on Twitter (translated from Spanish). 'They closed the entire avenue... and it was barely 12 noon.'

'My Lyft driver here told me Hollywood Boulevard is closed because someone is running around with a [knife] trying to stab twelve people,'  wrote @Lizquidity. 'Be careful if you're in the area.'

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The area of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue was closed off for a number of hours after the incident, and traffic was diverted to Sunset Boulevard, the department said

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'An armed man on Hollywood Boulevard even attracted police helicopters,' wrote @eltirado on Twitter (translated from Spanish). 'They closed the entire avenue... and it was barely 12 noon'

'My Lyft driver here told me Hollywood Boulevard is closed because someone is running around with a [knife] trying to stab twelve people,' wrote @Lizquidity. 'Be careful if you're in the area'

Both Hollywood and the greater Los Angeles area have seen an uptick in violent crimes compared to this time last year. 

As of last July, 1027 violent crimes had been reported in Hollywood, compared to 1277 by that time this year. Of those reports, 624 in 2020 and 768 this year were aggravated assaults. 

As of July, 21909 violent crimes have been recorded by police in the city of Los Angeles - 6.3 percent more compared to that time last year. Of those, 14,723 were aggravated assaults, which have increased by 20 percent. 

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Both Hollywood and the greater Los Angeles area have seen an uptick in violent crimes compared to this time last year

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told Fox News that District Attorney George Gascón's progressive policies have contributed to the increase, saying that 'elections have consequences.'

'They need to really pick and choose very carefully because for them it’s very easy to say, "Oh yeah, all cops are bad," and, "Let’s reform and defund the police,"' he said. 'Yet they’re the very first ones to pick up the 911 when someone’s crawling over their back gate trying to get into their house.'

The United States saw a nearly 30% jump in homicides in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the FBI. That was the largest single-year increase in killings since the agency began tracking crimes.

 More than 21,000 homicides were reported last year, 4,901 more than in 2019, the biggest leap since the 1960s. Overall violent crime – which includes homicides, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – increased 5.6%, and property crimes dropped by nearly 8%, according to FBI data.

The jump comes as several cities are seeing record spikes in gun violence after decades of declines in violent crime. The report showed most of the violence involved guns. About 77% of reported murders were committed with some type of gun. 

 

Statistics released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff earlier this year showed a 200% crime spike from the same time in 2020.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told Fox News that criminals are emboldened by District Attorney George Gascón's progressive policies and stressed that people must understand that elections have consequences.

"They need to really pick and choose very carefully because for them it’s very easy to say, ‘Oh yeah, all cops are bad,’ and, ‘Let’s reform and defund the police,'" Villanueva said. "Yet they’re the very first ones to pick up the 911 when someone’s crawling over their back gate trying to get into their house."