# 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.
- Title: One shot in a crowded Santa Monica park · Fox News | Shortify
- Summary: 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…
- Keywords: police shooting, bodycam, santa monica, knife attack, true crime, news, politics, One, shot, crowded, Santa, Monica
- Source: Fox News — https://foxnews.com/us/knife-wielding-man-races-officer-packed-seaside-park-before-one-deadly-shot-rings-out-video
- Author: Stepheny Price
- Published: 2026-09-12T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: police shooting, bodycam, santa monica, knife attack, true crime, news, politics
## 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.
## Key takeaway

Officers answering one call walked into an unrelated armed threat, and the whole encounter ended in seconds with a single round fired.