Officer kills knife attack suspect

A rookie Los Angeles police officer shot and killed a 27-year-old man early Monday after the man attacked his former roommates with a 6-inch butcher knife, police said.

Officer Eber Mancia, 35, shot the man after responding to reports that he was trying to break into apartments on South Pacific Avenue in San Pedro.

When police arrived about 12:40 a.m., a man living on the third floor who had wounds on his face said the assailant was chasing him and his current roommate with a knife.

As police and the victim walked down a second-floor corridor, the victim’s roommate came running down the stairway chased by the attacker, who was trying to stab him, police said.

Mancia, who has been on the force about a year, shot the attacker, who was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance and died an hour later. Police did not release his name.

Police said the victims suffered minor wounds. The officer and a sergeant were not injured.

Police said the assailant had lived in the third-floor apartment about a year ago. They did not provide a reason for the assault. The LAPD’s force investigation division will investigate.