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This Article is From Mar 02, 2015

Video Shows Los Angeles Police Shooting Homeless Man

Video Shows Los Angeles Police Shooting Homeless Man
This video grab shows violent altercation between the man and police officers in Los Angeles
Los Angeles:

Los Angeles police officers fatally shot a homeless man on Sunday in an incident that was caught on video and posted online, local media reported.

The graphic video, which was posted on Facebook, shows a violent altercation between a man and several officers in LA's Skid Row area near downtown.

The circumstances around the shooting were not immediately clear but the video appears to show a man flailing at officers as they try to subdue him.

A voice yelling "Drop the gun!" can be heard before several shots ring out and several onlookers cry out in alarm.

The Los Angeles Police Department didn't immediately return a call for comment, but local media said at least one officer had opened fire.

The man was declared dead at a hospital soon after the shooting, police spokesman Sergeant Barry Montgomery told the Los Angeles Times.

Skid Row is a run-down area that houses many hostels and services for the region's homeless people, some of whom pitch tents on the sidewalks.

Officers were responding to a robbery call and a witness said the victim had been fighting with someone in his tent, the Times reported.

The video comes against a backdrop of highly publicized police shootings of black men that sparked weeks of protests late last year.

A local CBS television affiliate reported that tensions in the area remained high for hours after the shooting.

The video also shows police grabbing a woman after she picks up a baton that an officer dropped, then appears to raise it.

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