Police Fatally Shoot Bayonet-Wielding Man In Hollywood

HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — A man who was armed with a bayonet-style weapon when he was fatally shot by police officers in Hollywood suffered from schizophrenia, according to his girlfriend.

A man in his 40s was fatally shot by police officers responding to the 1400 block of Hobart Boulevard near Fountain Avenue just after 2 a.m. to investigate a report of a man with a gun, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

At the scene, the officers found a man in the street armed with a bayonet-style weapon, described as a piece of metal about two feet long with a blade of about six inches on the end.

Both officers opened fire on the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. It's not immediately known what prompted police to fire.

No officers were injured during the shooting.

The identity of the man was withheld, but a woman at the scene who said she was his girlfriend identified him as Marcello Luna, the father of her 10-month-old baby.

"He was a really carying and good man to other people," Roxanna Villalobos said tearfully. "I love him and I don't know what I'm going to do without him."

Villalobos said she and Luna had argued and he had stormed out, grabbing the unloaded rifle with a knife attached to the end. He apparently vandalized some parked vehicles by slashing the tires.

"I thought he was going to come up here, smoke a cigarette, maybe just clear his mind," Villalobos said. "I misread, I didn't pick up the warning signs, I didn't do my part to keep him safe."

Villalobos said Luna is schizophrenic and had just stopped taking his medication a few weeks ago.