South Gate police shoot and wound a man in confrontation

A South Gate police officer shot and wounded a man after responding to a report that the man was acting erratically, authorities said.

South Gate police were called about 8 p.m. to the 8600 block of South Gate Avenue, a residential area of the city, for a report of a man running up and down the street screaming, said Lt. Barry Hall of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is handling the investigation.

When officers tried to make contact with the man, who was standing on the eastern sidewalk of the street, he ran away and darted down a driveway, Hall said.

As an officer approached, the man formed his fingers into the shape of a handgun and pointed them at the officer, according to Hall. The officer did not fire his weapon at that point, Hall said, but when the man reached behind his back, the officer opened fire and struck the man at least twice in the torso.

He was not carrying a firearm, Hall said.

The man, described as Latino and 30 years old, was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition as of Wednesday night, Hall said.