Palm Springs police shot and killed a man who was behaving “erratically” on Thursday afternoon, May 28, a police commander said late Thursday night.
Police did not specify whether the man was seen with a weapon by officers or detail the nature of his behavior, although they said a caller had earlier reported he had a knife.
Police got a call at 3:41 p.m. about a man brandishing a knife at employees in the 1200 block of East Palm Canyon Drive. Police did not specify the nature of the establishment where the man was reported to be.
“Officers located the subject on the property and attempted to establish communication with him,” police Capt. Gustavo M. Araiza wrote in a press release Thursday night. “Recognizing the subject’s erratic behavior, officers utilized de-escalation efforts, deployed less-lethal options, and utilized the assistance of the department’s Community Behavioral Assessment Team (CBAT) in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation.”
But at some point during the encounter, police shot the man. Araiza did not specify how many officers fired, or how many times, or what specific act by the man led police to believe they had to fire instead of de-escalating the situation.
Medics took the man to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No officers were injured. Police did not release the name pending notification of next of kin by the Riverside County Coroner’s Office.
Araiza said the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an independent criminal investigation, which it will submit to the district attorney’s office to decide whether to file charges, as is standard in shootings by officers. In addition, Palm Springs police will do their own internal review to see whether department policies and practices were followed.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs police shoot and kill man after ‘erratic’ behavior
Reporting by Eric Hartley, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
