LOS ANGELES — Margarito Lopez Jr. had been threatening suicide with a butcher knife to his neck for nearly 10 minutes when he suddenly stood and took a few steps toward the line of Los Angeles police officers in front of him.
The officers had been trying to calm the troubled man in bursts of English and Spanish, according to police video from the encounter. They kept their distance while trying to talk Lopez out of harming himself. They lined up behind a barrier they’d created with their patrol cars. And they brought out a projectile launcher as a “less lethal” option in the event they needed to use force.
Lopez stood on the sidewalk and slowly began to turn away. Then the officers opened fire with the projectile weapon — and their handguns. He crumpled to the ground, dead at 22.
