L.A. police fatally shoot knife-wielding man at Sylmar home, find body inside

Los Angeles police fatally shot a knife-wielding man covered in blood Monday as he approached officers responding to an emergency call of a possible assault at a Sylmar home, an LAPD spokeswoman said.

Shortly before 11 a.m., the man emerged from a home in the 13000 block of Gavina Avenue and was carrying a knife, LAPD spokeswoman Liliana Preciado said. He advanced toward police and officers opened fire.

Jason Hendley, 29, was hospitalized in critical condition and pronounced dead Monday night, according to the L.A. County coroner’s office.

After the shooting, officers entered the home and discovered a man with multiple stab wounds, Preciado said. He died inside the home, Preciado said.

The stabbing victim is believed to be the fiancé of the knife-wielding man’s mother.

He was one of four family members who were inside the home when an argument broke out and the attack unfolded, LAPD Capt. Todd Chamberlain told reporters. The armed man, his brother, his mother and the mother’s fiancé were present when the stabbing occurred.

Chamberlain said that as the armed man stabbed his mother’s fiancé, his brother tried to fight him off. After the stabbing, the armed man exited the home. Then his mother and brother quickly escaped.

The man’s death is the seventh homicide to occur in Sylmar in the last 12 months, according to the Los Angeles Times Homicide Report. The last occurred June 5 in the 13000 block of Foothill Boulevard, where Elvira Zarate, 57, was stabbed to death.

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