South Gate police fatally shoot pursuit suspect who brandished gun, officials say

A man was fatally shot by South Gate police late Thursday afternoon after he was chased into a backyard and “brandished a handgun at the officers,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The officer-involved shooting was reported about 4:15 p.m. in the 9800 block of Bowman Avenue, according to the sheriff’s department, which was asked by the South Gate Police Department to help investigate the shooting.

The sheriff’s department said the person was taken to the nearest hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No officers from the South Gate Police Department were injured in the shooting.

According to the sheriff’s department officials, the shooting followed a brief car pursuit. South Gate police tried to pull over a gold Lexus for a traffic violation, but the vehicle refused to stop for about two minutes, authorities said.

When the vehicle did pull over, the driver was taken into custody but the passenger “walked away,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release.

He was later found in a backyard, “at which point he brandished a handgun at the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred,” the department said.

Two officers fired several times and the man was hit at least once, killing him, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear if the man had fired at officers. A handgun was recovered at the scene, officials said.

The man’s identity was not immediately available, a coroner’s official said.

The shooting remains under investigation.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

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UPDATES:

Dec. 29, 7 a.m.: This article was updated with the death of the suspect has died and additional details of the shooting.

This article was originally published on Dec. 28 at 8:15 p.m.