Local News in Brief : Man With Knife, Baby Wounded by Officers

Sheriff’s deputies in Norwalk on Friday wounded a distraught man walking toward them clutching his 15-month-old daughter in one hand and swinging a six-inch hunting knife with the other, authorities said.

Mario Perez, 20, was shot twice in the leg, but his infant daughter was not injured, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Bob Nimtz said.

Responding to a report that an intoxicated man was endangering a baby while arguing with his girlfriend shortly after midnight, two deputies saw Perez walking away from his home in the 12100 block of Hayford Street with his daughter and the knife, Nimtz said.

When Perez ignored deputies’ order to drop the knife and set his daughter on the ground, they fired three shots each at him, wounding him twice in the left thigh, Nimtz said. “They were aiming at his legs. The safety and welfare of the child was paramount on their minds,” Nimtz said.

Perez was taken to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition. He was booked on suspicion of attempting to murder his daughter and assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer.

Investigators said Perez had been arguing with his girlfriend, who was the infant’s mother, over custody of the girl.