LAPD officers shot a man on a Skid Row sidewalk Friday after they were called to reports of several stabbings.
Witness Miguel Mendez said he heard the officers tell the man to drop a knife before the shots.
"Like four of five times the officer says, 'drop the knife,' and he didn't, so the police officer, just pull his gun, and he shot him," Mendez said.
The LAPD said it received two near-simultaneous 911 calls of stabbings on San Julian and Crocker Streets just before 12:00 p.m., and officers sent to the scene observed a third stabbing in progress just outside the Midnight Mission at 6th and San Pedro Streets.
"It was all split seconds," said Rick Porter, who said he volunteers nearby.
"I turned around and the guy was stabing and rolling around right here," he said.
"The cops came around the corner and they stopped it."
The man stabbed on Crocker Street had been slashed in the throat, arm, and chest, according to Darryl Dillihunt, who said he grabbed a rag and tried to stop the bleeding.
"He was stabbed up under the neck," Dillihunt told police and reporters.
"He kept saying he gonna die, and I said, no, calm down sir, you're not going to die, you need to slow your adrenaline down," he said.
An LAPD spokesman said an edged weapon was found at the scene of the shooting.