New US Police Gunfire: Man Shot for Allegedly Carrying Knife

MOSCOW, December 6 (Sputnik)   — The Los Angeles police department has confirmed that a man who was shot multiple times by an officer in Hollywood for allegedly wielding knife has died of his wounds in a hospital.

Police say they responded to reports of a man with a knife at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue just before 7 p.m. on Friday.

According to the local media, Detective Meghan Aguilar of the LAPD said officers had fired after seeing the man approach them while armed with a knife.

A combination knife, similar to a Swiss Army Knife, was reportedly found at the scene.

The suspect was initially critically wounded. Los Angeles City Fire transported him to a hospital, where he later died.

However, one of the witnesses, Jordan White, said on Twitter that the man was not armed.

He posted a video of a man lying in the street following the shooting on his page in Facebook.

“Police just shot a man in the head 10 times for no reason right in front of me,” he said in the comment.

The incident has already sparked online debates; many are questioning why having a knife warrants a death sentence.

The incident has become the latest in a string of police brutality cases in the US.

On Friday, hundreds took to the streets of Phoenix, Arizona to protest the latest shooting of an African-American by a white police officer; the victim’s pills had been mistaken for a gun.

In New York, police have arrested more than 200 people protesting a grand jury decision to not indict a white officer who killed Eric Garner, an African-American, by choking him to death earlier this year.

Ferguson is still gripped by violent protests over the death of Michael Brown, whose killing by a police officer set off a national debate on race and police tactics.