Incident: July 29, 2026, Los Angeles, California. Footage released by the Los Angeles Police Department: August 31, 2026.
Los Angeles Police Department officers shot and killed a man who advanced on them with a raised aluminum bat beneath the Interstate 10 Freeway on July 29, according to the department. LAPD released the body-worn and surveillance video on August 31.
Uniformed patrol officers assigned to Olympic Division were sent at about 6:25 p.m. to a gas station at Normandie Avenue and Washington Boulevard in the West Adams district on a report of an assault with a deadly weapon suspect there now, LAPD said in its release. The caller said the man, armed with a metal bat, had shattered the windows of multiple vehicles and had attempted to strike people walking past.
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The released video opens with surveillance footage showing the man walking down a roadway and striking multiple car windows with the bat, then chasing a person with it. The radio call was updated from vandalism to assault with a deadly weapon at that point.
As officers approached, an LAPD air unit overhead advised them the man was walking southbound on Normandie Avenue beneath the Interstate 10 Freeway, the department said.
Officers located him walking toward them with the aluminum bat in his right hand, according to the release. They exited the patrol vehicle and repeatedly ordered him to drop the bat.
“The suspect refused to comply with verbal direction, continued advancing toward the officers, and raised the bat with both hands into a swinging position, resulting in an Officer-Involved Shooting,” LAPD said. An officer fired two rounds. The man was struck once, fell to the ground and dropped the bat.
Officers formed an arrest team, took him into custody and rendered medical aid until Los Angeles Fire Department personnel arrived and assumed care, the department said. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead there.
A 35-inch aluminum softball bat was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence. No officers or community members were injured.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the man on August 10 as Alejandro Lopez Garcia, 33. The office listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the upper body.
Garcia died, so no criminal case against him will proceed. The LAPD Force Investigation Division has the shooting investigation. Under department procedure, its findings go to the Chief of Police and then to the civilian Board of Police Commissioners, which determines whether the shooting was within policy.
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