LAPD SWAT Responds to Knife-Wielding Man Barricaded in Ambulance

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 (KNN) — A violent man with mental illness was taken into custody Wednesday night after barricading in an ambulance armed with a knife, according to authorities.

The barricade incident unfolded at approximately 9:15 p.m. when the man was either being prepared for transport or entering a facility via ambulance in the 2000 block of West Washington Boulevard in the Harvard Heights neighborhood within Central Los Angeles. LAPD confirmed that paramedics were at the scene.

While inside the ambulance operated by a private company, the man refused to leave and was armed with a knife. Los Angeles Police Department’s Olympic Division officers were notified of the incident and responded to the scene.

When officers arrived at the scene, the man refused to exit the ambulance. They attempted to negotiate with him for several hours, but he still refused to exit.

LAPD SWAT was requested to the scene and also negotiated with him.

At one point, the man armed himself with a rock and threw an unknown object at officers.

As soon as two armored vehicles arrived at the scene, he immediately surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident.

The patient was transported to a local hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics for self-inflicted injuries to his leg.

Gabriel Pabon, Video Journalist / KNN