From Fox News · Stepheny Price · · 1m 50s
One shot in a crowded Santa Monica park
Bodycam shows a man raising a knife over his head and closing on an officer in a packed oceanfront park.
In brief
Bodycam shows a man raising a knife over his head and closing on an officer in a packed oceanfront park. Officers answering one call walked into an unrelated armed threat, and the whole encounter ended in seconds with a single round fired. Originally reported by Fox News.
A different call entirely
Two Santa Monica officers went to Broadway and Ocean Avenue on Aug. 22 for a report of a man chasing a woman. They were interviewing witnesses when everything changed.
A man with a raised knife
Around 12:30 p.m., officers spotted 44-year-old Michael Rodriguez holding a large knife above his head and moving toward an officer and bystanders. He had nothing to do with the original call.
The park was packed
It was a Saturday afternoon in Palisades Park, the oceanfront strip crowded with pedestrians, visitors and vendors.
Put it down
The officer drew his gun and backed away, shouting at Rodriguez to drop the knife. Rodriguez kept coming and picked up his pace as the officer retreated.
“Hey, put that down. Put it down. Put that down.”
One round, one hit
The officer fired a single shot that struck Rodriguez in the chest. A second bodycam shows him falling as the knife drops from his hand.
Three knives, not one
The blade he carried was a large fixed-blade fighting and utility knife with a clip point, hand guard and serrated spine. A second was in his pants pocket, a third in his backpack.
Officers tried to save him
They applied gauze and a chest seal, then started chest compressions. Fire personnel took over and he was pronounced dead at 1:49 p.m. from the chest wound.
“Come on, you need to breathe.”
Three reviews now open
Detectives are running a criminal investigation, the LA County DA will review the use of deadly force, and the department is conducting an internal review. No one else was hurt.
“Any loss of life is tragic, and we recognize the impact on the family, our officers and our community.”
The essence
Officers answering one call walked into an unrelated armed threat, and the whole encounter ended in seconds with a single round fired.
