Knife-Wielding Man Killed by Officers

Three Los Angeles police officers shot and killed a knife-wielding man Thursday morning at the man’s Hollywood apartment building after the man stabbed an owner of the building, apparently in a dispute over rent, police said.

The man, whose name was not released, was shot at the Amor Arms on Orchid Avenue about 11:15 a.m., moments after he stabbed 57-year-old Howard Klausener once with what Lt. William Hall described as a 15-inch knife.

Klausener, part-owner of the four-story building, was in serious condition at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with a stab wound to his abdomen.

Neighbors said Klausener had gone to collect the man’s back rent when he was attacked by the tenant. Klausener escaped and summoned police and paramedics, Hall said.

After police arrived, they found the man in his apartment with the knife and an identical weapon in a sheath strapped to his belt.

The officers ordered him to drop the weapons but he refused.

When the man charged out into the hallway at police, they fired nine or 10 rounds at him with their 9mm pistols, Hall said.

The man died at the scene.

None of the officers were hurt.