Why did beanbags fail to stop a Panorama City man killed by police?

A man described as mentally ill was fatally shot by police Monday in Panorama City.

Investigators walk slowly along the 9100 block of Kester Avenue slowly piecing together what happened early Monday morning. Around 8:45 ipolice say they received a call of a man with a mental issue.

Detective Meghan Aguilar says "As the officers arrived there was a male in his 20's that came out of one of the homes… he had a long 16 inch weapon in his hand."

Using a taser and a bean bag shotgun officers tried to slow the man down; a man in his 20's. From beanbags they turned to bullets. But, why? Why didn't the beanbags work? Aguilar says it's not clear yet, but "beanbags don't work in situations where it misses the individual they're shooting at. Sometimes if an individual is wearing clothing that would not allow it to get the full sting of the beanbag… or if someone is under the influence of a narcotic."

That all has to be determined during the investigation. And, how did officers get from beanbags to bullets? Aguilar says, she's "not exactly sure. How we'll find that out though is, one, interviewing the officers…and - two - look at body cams video.

Some in the neighborhood say they heard two gunshots. Another named Mark told us, "I thought I heard one gunshot."

Neighbor Walter Greathouse was shocked at the sound of the morning gunfire. Especially, because police had to escalate from non-lethal to deadly.

Says Greathouse, "That's too bad, but I guess the young man, what he did, was not right. He should've known that you can't come at the police with any kind of weapon."

But, why didn't the beanbags work? That will be a key question in the investigation. And, while its not completely clear, Detective Aguilar says "Beanbags don't work in situations where - A - it misses the individual they're shooting at. Sometimes if an individual is wearing clothing that would not allow it to get the full sting of the beanbag… or if someone is under the influence of a narcotic."

At this point its not known why bullets had to replace beanbags. That's why the investigation of the officers steps from the time they arrived to the time they shot and killed the man who lay dead in a nearby tent.

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