Suspect Charges Officers and Paramedics with Knife NRF026-15jk

April 1, 2015

UPDATE April 7, 2015 Updated: The officer involved in the below incident has been identified as Police Officer III Sherwin Vigilant, Serial No. 37010 assigned to Harbor Division.

Wilmington: On March 26, 2015, around 9:25 a.m., Harbor Area patrol officers responded to a radio call of a suicidal man who was cutting himself and had a belt around his neck in the 1500 block of Bayview Avenue.

When the officers arrived, they met with the subject’s mother who told them that her son, later identified as Adrian Solis was lying on the kitchen floor bleeding profusely from a deep laceration to the throat. The officers rendered aid while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

When Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics arrived, one officer went outside to advise them to bring a gurney and escort them back to the kitchen. Suddenly, Solis leapt to his feet, grabbed two kitchen knives off of the counter and walked towards the officer who remained with him. That officer redeployed outside to warn his partner and paramedics that Solis had armed himself with knives. Solis continued to advance and then charged at the officer, resulting in an officer involved shooting.

Solis was struck by gunfire and paramedics immediately rendered aid, but Solis was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.

No officers were injured during this incident. Two serrated kitchen knives were recovered in the driveway and street where the officer involved shooting occurred.

Force Investigation Division investigators responded to the incident and will conduct a thorough investigation of the officer involved shooting. The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Departments use-of-force policy, which states that an officer’s use-of-force actions must be objectively reasonable. Additionally, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division will conduct a comprehensive review of the facts of the officer-involved-shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call Force Investigation Division at 213-486-5230. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.