The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) released video of the fatal shooting of a suspected naked burglar who appeared to try to attack officers with a butcher knife.
The footage from the July 29 incident shows officers and the armed suspect negotiating inside a woman’s home before the fatal shooting, police said. The suspect also barricaded himself in a room and started a fire in the home, according to police.
Video shows the naked man, later identified as Lavell Adams, crouched in the corner of a bedroom as an officer cautiously approaches and says, “Hey, don’t do anything stupid … Don’t move.” (RELATED: Police Release Bodycam Footage Of Fatal Shooting Of Naked 19-Year-Old Wielding Knife0
WARNING: graphic. A buck-naked burglar wielding a big butcher knife is shot with a bean bag gun after charging at LAPD officers. But when the suspect charges officers again, cops deploy lethal force. The new bodycam video and probe. Tonight at 11 from ABC7 https://t.co/MZvdcvxprv pic.twitter.com/x5N0gWgjGG
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) August 29, 2024
Adams says, “I don’t have anything.”
“Hey, we’re going to come and grab you,” an officer says. “Don’t move.”
Adams then appears to raise the knife and rush toward the officer who fires several beanbag rounds, knocking the man to the floor.
Adams dropped the knife, but when he picked it back up, officers backed out the window and called in a special unit that deals with barricade situations, ABC7 reported.
Firefighters put the fire out, but Adams was still in the room, according to ABC7.
Video shows an officer bang on the door and say, “LAPD! Open the door, or we will kick it in!”
The tense situation came to a head when Adams climbed out the bedroom window and crouched in the driveway with a blanket over him, ABC7 reported.
“Get on the ground, and follow my commands, or you’re going to get hurt, and it’s not going to feel good,” an officer shouts at Adams.
Footage then shows Adams appearing to charge the officers with the knife again, who use live ammo and take him down.
ABC7’s helicopter crew, who was above the house when Adams exited the home, caught the exchange.
