New bodycam video shows SWAT taking down gunman during hostage crisis in downtown LA
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Police Department released bodycam footage showing SWAT officers taking down an armed suspect during a hostage situation in downtown LA.
Police say the suspect, 45-year-old Rudy Anderson, went on a crime spree in downtown, firing his gun at innocent people before taking a woman hostage inside a residential high-rise building on 6th and Main.
Rudy Anderson
Video posted to social media showed the suspect holding a gun to the woman’s head.
SWAT officers quickly moved into the building to rescue the hostage.
In the bodycam footage you can hear officers shout "get on the floor. Watch out... gun, gun, gun" followed by shots being fired.
They can then be heard shouting "come here, come here. Finish clearing he building" as they rescue and escort the woman out of her apartment.
RELATED: Suspect killed after going on violent crime spree in downtown LA; hostage rescued
The woman was not injured during the incident. The suspect was killed. It is unknown what triggered the suspect to go on a crime spree.
Around 4 p.m. officers began receiving calls of a man armed with a gun in the area of 8th and Broadway. They say Anderson randomly approached a man on the sidewalk, pulled out a gun, pointed it to the man’s face and pulled the trigger. Fortunately, the gun did not fire. Anderson then went into a business and fired his gun at a group of people; the bullet grazed a 14-year-old boy on the side of his head.
Following that crime, Anderson then made his way to the area of 6th and Spring where he attempted to carjack a woman. HIs attempt was unsuccessful and he fled up the street to the intersection of 7th and Spring where he later got into a confrontation with a man on his bike.
After the confrontation, Anderson ran into the apartment complex on 6th and Main armed with is gun.
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LAPD released the video in an effort to be more transparent. The video will also be used as a training exercise for other SWAT members.
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