Man holding gardening tool fatally shot by deputies responding to ‘street takeover’ in California
By Marc Cota-Robles and ABC7.com staff
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BELLFLOWER, California (KABC) — A suspect holding a gardening tool was shot and killed by deputies in Bellflower overnight as they were responding to a “street takeover.”
Several cars were performing dangerous stunts with passengers hanging out the windows at the intersection of Artesia Boulevard and Downey Avenue around midnight Thursday, surrounded by a crowd of spectators.
As deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrived to break up the takeover, and the cars and crowd began dispersing, a car crash occurred in the intersection. It’s unclear if those cars were involved in the takeover or they were among those trying to maneuver through the area.
While deputies were trying to facilitate the crowd dispersal, authorities say they were flagged down a person who said a man had just stabbed him with a garden claw. The alleged victim identified a man in the area as the person who stabbed him.
That suspect ran down Downey Avenue as deputies attempted to detail him. At one point, authorities say the man turned around and advanced toward the pursuing deputies while “swinging the approximately 3-foot long garden claw with spikes on the end.”
At least one deputy opened fire on the suspect, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the upper torso. He was taken to a hospital but did not survive.
The suspect’s mother spoke to Eyewitness News and identified him as 32-year-old Edgar Ortiz, a father of six with a seventh child on the way.
The shooting remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the department’s homicide bureau at 323-890-5500.
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