Woman allegedly armed with metal pipe fatally shot by police in Tarzana
LOS ANGELES - A woman who allegedly hit at least four people with a metal pipe was fatally shot by police in Tarzana Sunday, and officials said the same woman was wanted for similar attacks earlier in the weekend.
According to police, officers responded to multiple calls reporting the woman was attacking people in the area near Reseda Boulevard and Hatteras Street around 8:30 a.m.
Monica, who works at Tasty’s Donuts on Burbank Boulevard near Reseda, said she was okay but couldn’t say much else about the situation at and near the donut shop where she works.
It was just a few hours after the popular donut shop opened for Sunday morning business that things got violent in this part of Tarzana. Sgt. Bruce Borihanh with the Los Angeles Police Department said that the woman allegedly hit four women with the metal rod, one of them in line at Tasty's waiting to get a donut.
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A witness who wouldn’t go on camera told FOX11 the donut shop customer was "whacked on the side of her head by that rod and knocked to the ground." They said it was like being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Officers said they located the suspect at a gas station at the intersection of Reseda and Burbank boulevards, and that she was carrying a metal dumbbell bar just over a foot long. Officers said she approached them with the bar in hand. That's when they used a taser and less than lethal rounds, before ultimately shooting her. She was taken to the hospital where she later died.
No officers were hurt.
Of the four victims attacked Sunday, two remain in the hospital in stable condition according to the LAPD.
The suspect has not yet been identified, but the LAPD announced Sunday night that the same woman was wanted for two similar attacks in the area the previous day. In one instance, a mom and child were in a parked car when the suspect allegedly smashed in the car's windows. In the other, two men were attacked with a similar weapon to the one used in Sunday's crimes.
The LAPD is still investigating the shooting.
The southbound 101 Freeway off-ramp to Reseda Boulevard was closed as police investigated the shooting.