L.A. police shoot man wearing body armor during bizarre confrontation in Hollywood area

Los Angeles police fatally shot a man who was wearing body armor when he slammed his car into a police vehicle Saturday in the Hollywood area, authorities said.

Officers were responding to a call and heading westbound on Sunset Boulevard about 2:30 p.m. with their siren on and patrol lights flashing at the time of the incident, the LAPD said in a statement.

As the officers approached the intersection of Sunset and Fairfax Avenue, the suspect’s car “suddenly pulled in front of them and stopped,” according to the statement. The suspect “then placed his vehicle in reverse and ran into the police car. “

“The driver of the vehicle exited and was wearing body armor,” police said. “He had his right hand concealed behind his back. He moved towards the officers and was counting three, two, one. He began to move his right arm to the front at which time there was an OIS [officer-involved-shooting].”

The man was struck by gunfire and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. No weapon was found.

The officers were wearing body cameras, and the shooting was captured on video, said Officer Mike Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Detectives were still at the scene near West Hollywood late Saturday, conducting interviews and gathering evidence. No other details were immediately available about the shooting.

The sedan the man had been driving was covered in decals spelling out messages such as “New world order,” “Women Rule” and “Cancel all Bibles,” along with the numbers 333 and 666, according to video from KTLA-TV.

This was the second police shooting in two days.

Early Friday, officers shot and wounded a man armed with a knife during a confrontation early Friday in the Valley Village neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley.

Officers initially shot at the man with a Taser and a 40-millimeter hard-foam projectile, police said.

“When they encountered the man, they used less lethal munitions which were not effective,” an LAPD tweet stated. The officers then shot the man.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition, police said. No one else was injured in the shooting, according to the LAPD. The knife was recovered at the scene.