Woman killed in confrontation with LAPD officers: police

At least one local civil rights activist questioned the shooting.

June 16, 2024, 8:45 p.m. PDT | Updated June 16, 2024, 8:46 p.m. PDT

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — Police say they shot and killed a woman armed with a knife during an altercation in the San Fernando Valley early Saturday morning.

Los Angeles Police Department officers were called to an apartment complex in the 9400 block of Van Nuys Boulevard in Panorama City around 12:30 a.m. after a report of a woman armed with a knife and threatening family members, the LAPD said in a statement.

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At the crime scene, they ordered the woman to drop the knife and surrender. When she did not obey, the perpetrators opened fire and she was hit by gunshots.

Police said officers used a taser before the shooting.

The woman was arrested and taken by paramedics to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She was in her 20s, police said.

No other people were injured in the incident, police said.

A knife was recovered at the scene and recorded as evidence, police added.

At least one local civil rights activist questioned the shooting.

“The murder of a Panorama City woman by the LAPD requires an expedited investigation and possible charges against the officers involved in the killing,” said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable.

“The LAPD repeatedly uses deadly force in questionable situations where there is no threat to life or death to police officers or others. The Panorama City murder is another possible example of this,” Hutchinson added. “(District Attorney George) Gascón must quickly, thoroughly and thoroughly investigate the murder to determine if this was another case of the LAPD using deadly force excessively.”

City News Service contributed to this report.