Gardena police officers shot and wounded a knife-wielding man wanted on suspicion of robbing a 7-Eleven convenience store early Sunday morning.
The man was hospitalized in stable condition, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A second alleged robber was also taken into custody.
The incident happened about 3:45 a.m. near a 7-Eleven in the 800 block of 168th Street. When officers arrived, two men were running from the store. One of the alleged robbers, armed with a knife, failed to comply and officers shot him, according to the LASD.
Deputies did not release details about the alleged robbery, but video of the crime scene showed cases of beer inside police tape and one witness said the wounded man was surrounded by candy.
"I heard five gunshots," said Gardena resident Alex Vieyra. "We came to the front doors but we didn't open the security doors, and we were just listening to the officers say, 'Stay down. Show us your hands. Don't move. Stay down. Show us your hands."
Vieyra said the man was only wearing boxer-shorts.
"So, I looked in the yard and all you could see was clothes and candies -- lots of candies. I don't know where the candies came from, but they took him away. He was yelling, 'I'm dying. I'm dying.'"
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No officers were injured during this incident.
Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at 323-890-5500.
