Officials said a California Highway Patrol officer shot a man approaching him with a knife.
A man brandishing a knife was shot on the northbound side of Interstate 805 near Imperial Avenue causing a lengthy delay.
The California Highway Patrol said an officer was conducting a traffic stop before 8 a.m. when a vehicle pulled up just behind his patrol car. Sgt. Brian Pennings told reporters he immediately noticed the driver was armed.
“The officer made contact with this individual while he was still seated inside of his car,” Pennings said. “The officer observed immediately that he was brandishing a weapon, which was a knife.”
Pennings explained the officer immediately fell back to his patrol car, using it for cover. The CHP claims the driver then exited his car and then walked toward the officer holding a knife. Pennings said the officer gave the man multiple orders to stop.
“Despite numerous verbal commands to the suspect, the suspect failed to stop, failed to drop the weapon and continued to charge towards the officer,” Pennings said. “This resulted in the officer unfortunately having to use his weapon to stop forward progress.”
“I personally listened to this on the [police] radio as it was unfolding this morning,” Pennings continued.
The officer disarmed the man, and paramedics transported him to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The man is expected to be booked into jail on charges of felony assault on an officer and failure to comply with orders.
Pennings said the shooting was under investigation for multiple hours. This resulted in the CHP to close off I-805 at Imperial Ave for hours. Pennings defended the decision to close off a section of the highway.
“We have to make sure there are no rounds that are missing,” Pennings said. “We have to make sure to account for all shots that were fired. All the casings, all the rounds, all the evidence that is out there.”
It is currently unclear why the suspect initially pulled up behind the officer.
