LAPD officers shooting carjacking suspect on 210 Freeway, causing hours-long closure

A police shooting involving a carjacking suspect caused a 210 Freeway closure of its westbound lanes in the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed a police shooting occurred at 12:44 p.m., striking the suspect as he ran across westbound lanes near the Roxford Street offramp and Polk Street overpass. 

Los Angeles Police Department officers told CBS LA that officers with their Mission Division were in foot pursuit of the suspect when he allegedly ran onto the freeway. The incident began when they were searching for a "known wanted suspect" in the 14000 block of Bledsoe Street.

Police said that while the suspect was running on the freeway with a handgun, he attempted to carjack another driver. At this point, officers said that they gave commands to the suspect to drop the handgun, and when he refused, they opened fire.

"The suspect was struck by gunfire," police said on X. "The suspect fell to the ground in close proximity to the gun, and continued his non-compliance with officers' commands."

They said that they used a 40mm "less lethal launcher," at which point the suspect surrendered and was taken into custody.

Aerial footage showed officers swarming a man, taking him into custody, and then transporting him from the scene by way of an LAFD paramedic. The suspect was conscious and alert as they were loaded onto the ambulance. 

He has since been released and cleared for booking, police said.

Other footage more than a dozen law enforcement vehicles parked on the side of the freeway as the widespread investigation got underway on Tuesday afternoon. A handgun was also seen in the leftmost lane of the freeway, police said that it is believed to have belonged to the suspect.

No other injuries were reported in the incident, but rush hour traffic was severely impacted by the lengthy closure. 

According to the California Highway Patrol, the westbound lanes at Polk Street in Sylmar were closed back to SR-118 beginning at around 1 p.m. They didn't reopen until just before 9 p.m. All eastbound lanes remained open.