The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has released video of a Feb. 6, 2024, incident in which deputies shot and killed a robbery suspect after he reportedly charged at them with a machete.
Deputies were on the lookout for a man carrying two machetes who was wanted in connection with a robbery at a Lancaster, California, convenience store that morning when they received a call from another business in the area, LASD reports.
They located the suspect outside of a grocery store and tried to convince him to put down his weapons, the video shows.
During the attempt to negotiate with the man, he entered the store.
Deputies used foam projectiles and Tasers multiple times but were unable to subdue him. He was wearing a thick jacket that seemed to protect him from the less-lethal tools. He also used a machete to cut the Taser wires, ABC 7 reports.
The video shows the man telling the deputies "You're starting to piss me off" and then he raises a machete above his head and starts charging at the deputies. Deputies fired multiple times, and the man was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The suspect has been identified as Jonathan Scott Foster, 38.
The department says the incident will undergo standard reviews by the District Attorney's office and the department's own Internal Affairs unit and executive force review committee to determine if the shooting was within the law.
