Man fatally shot by police in Harbor-UCLA emergency room is identified
A Los Angeles police officer was involved in a shooting at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Saturday.
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The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has identified the man who was shot and killed by a Los Angeles police officer Saturday morning in the emergency room of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Ruben Jose Herrera, 26, of Torrance died from a single gunshot wound after he picked up a metal stool and tried to grab an officer’s gun as officers tried to transport him to jail, police said.
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Herrera — the 20th person shot and killed by on-duty LAPD officers this year — was taken to the emergency room after an altercation with officers earlier in the day, LAPD Lt. John Jenal said.
In that encounter in the 1600 block of West 207th Street around 8 a.m., Herrera attacked officers and reached for one officer’s weapon, Jenal said.
The officers were able to take the man into custody, he said. Both the man and the officers — who Jenal said were injured during the struggle — were taken to area hospitals for treatment.
After Herrera was cleared by medical staff to be taken to jail for booking at about 2:30 p.m., other officers went to remove his handcuffs from the gurney to handcuff him again to transport him, Herrera attacked the officers, Jenal said.
The man picked up a metal stool and the officers again tried to use a Taser, Jenal said. The man tried to reach for one officer’s gun, prompting an officer to draw his weapon and fire, he said.
Jenal said there were several witnesses to the deadly encounter, which will also be reviewed by the district attorney’s office, Police Commission and its inspector general.
On-duty LAPD officers have shot 35 people this year. Twenty, including the man shot Saturday, were killed.
Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, a 570-bed public teaching hospital near Torrance, serves 700,000 residents in the South Bay. It is one of only five Level One trauma centers in Los Angeles County.
Times staff reporter Doug Smith contributed to this report.
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