Cesar Frias, 20

Sylmar, California
April 06, 2016

Cause of death: Shooting


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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

Frias was fatally shot after cutting a Swat officer's arm with a knife following a six-hour standoff at his home. Frias was coaxed out of the property with gas, and officers tried to subdue him with beanbag rounds and a Taser. Officers were responding to a call reporting concerns about a man with mental health problems.

SWAT officers and a mental health psychologist were called to the scene to try to coax the suspect into surrendering. SWAT officers flushed the suspect out with gas around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

At that point, SWAT officers again tried to use a Taser and also shot the man with a beanbag round in order to subdue him, but it was ineffective, LAPD Detective Meghan Aguilar said.

The man cut one of the SWAT officers with an unknown sharp object, prompting an officer-involved shooting. The suspect was struck by one bullet.

"We knew the nature of the call was a male with a mental illness, so they brought in the less lethal, they attempted to use that. They exhausted all their options. We called in our psychologists, we called in our crisis negotiation team. They introduced the gas. They really didn't want this to end in a violent situation," Aguilar said.