Skip to Content
Featured

Valentine’s Day Police Killing ~ One Dead After Separate LAPD Officer Involved Shootings

[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] Los Angeles police officer shot and killed a man armed with a knife during the morning hours of February 14 – Valentine’s Day – at the heavily trafficked 7th Street/Metro Center station in downtown L.A., Los Angeles police said.

It was one of two separate officer involved shootings that took place that day, LAPD Chief Michael Moore said during the weekly L.A. Police Commission meeting of February 19.

The other incident took place around 3:25 in the morning in the area of 6th Street and San Julian Street in Skid Row, involving an off-duty plainclothes detective. Why an off-duty detective was in Skid Row at the wee hours of the morning and how the incident occurred are still being investigated, Moore said.

In that incident, the detective was attacked near the rear entrance of the Midnight Mission, according to a report from the L.A. Times. The area behind the mission usually crowded with people and the street there lined with homeless encampments. The detective had been drinking in the hours before he was attacked.

The man killed in the metro station was identified by Chief Moore as Wilfredo Hernandez. He was approached by fare inspectors at the station entrance by the Blue Line platform. Hernandez allegedly lunged at a Metro security guard. That was when foot beat LAPD officers intervened.

“Uniformed officers assigned to transit services were working a foot beat in the mezzanine level of the 7th Street and Figueroa Street transit station in Metro Center when they observed security personnel engaged in an altercation with an individual armed with a knife,” Moore said at the police commission meeting.

The department said on Twitter that no police officers were injured when the man was killed at Metro Center.

“The officers utilized a Taser with that individual armed with a knife which proved ineffective and the incident escalated, resulting in an Officer Involved Shooting. Los Angeles Fire Department personnel responded and declared the individual deceased at the scene.”

The officers were not wearing body cams. “There is no body worn video on this one, because the officers that worked the MTA — they don’t wear any body-worn video camera on them,” said LAPD spokesman Officer Sal Ramirez.

The circumstances that led to the confrontation at the Metro station are under investigation. An autopsy was performed on Feb. 16 and it was determined the decedent died from multiple gunshot wounds and the death was certified as a homicide, according to the L.A. County Medical Examiner-Coroner.

RELATED: Video: Man Killed While Shopping for Valentine's Day in South L.A. ~ Nash Baker Reports

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Dodgers Just Signed a New 17-Year-Old Pitcher From Culiacán, Sinaloa

He has a 92-MPH fastball and a nasty slider, sinker, curveball, and change-up. For now you can see him playing for the Toros de Tijuana until he's called up to the majors.

February 5, 2025

The Ten Best N.Y.-Style Pizza Joints in Los Angeles

The myth that you can’t do N.Y.-style pizza outside of New York because of the tap water was debunked by every owner we spoke to for this guide, written by a former New Yorker. The pizza here represents much more than a tasty, convenient slice. They represent New York grit and nostalgia.

February 5, 2025

Update: Boyle Heights’ Anti-Gentrification Mural Is Whitewashed Again

L.A. TACO has confirmed that as of Tuesday, February 4, 2025, Sergio Robleto's mural against gentrification has been whitewashed again. "It is no surprise they did this," Robleto tells L.A. TACO.

February 4, 2025

The 21 Best Wings In Los Angeles

For Super Bowl week, or any other week. In L.A., you'll find Cambodian, Caribbean, and Thai wings. Al pastor, garam masala, butter chicken, and mole wings. Buffalo, Korean-fried, wood-smoked, and Flamin' Hot Cheeto-dusted wings.

February 4, 2025

Thousands Marched On Downtown L.A. and Shut Down The 101 Freeway To Protest Trump’s Mass Deportation Threats

Many of those marching were fueled along the way by street vendors selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs, freshly squeezed orange juice, and snacks, as other community members handed out free water bottles to demonstrators.

February 3, 2025
See all posts