LOS ANGELES, CA – A man armed with a knife was fatally shot by a Santa Monica police officer after authorities said he charged toward officers who were investigating an unrelated domestic violence report in Palisades Park.
The shooting occurred at approximately 12:49 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, in the 1400 block of Palisades Park, according to an updated statement from the City of Santa Monica.
Santa Monica Police Department officers had originally been dispatched to the area for a reported domestic violence incident and were speaking with witnesses when the armed man approached.
Police said the man had no connection to the domestic violence investigation that brought officers to the park.
According to the department’s preliminary account, the man was carrying a knife and began charging toward the officers.
“The suspect ignored repeated commands to drop the knife and continued to advance toward the officers,” Police Chief Darrick Jacob said.
One officer then fired their service weapon, striking the man.
Officers immediately began providing lifesaving aid before personnel from the Santa Monica Fire Department arrived and continued emergency medical treatment.
The wounded man was transported to a local hospital.
Despite those efforts, authorities said he was pronounced dead at approximately 1:49 p.m., about an hour after the initial police response.
Police initially described the man as approximately 40 years old.
In a subsequent update, SMPD said he was believed to be in his mid-40s.
His name has not been publicly released.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner is responsible for formally identifying the man, and authorities said his identity was being withheld pending notification of his family.
Police recovered a knife from the scene.
Jacob described it during a briefing as a “rather large knife.”
Authorities have not released the knife’s exact dimensions or additional information about where it was recovered in relation to the man and the officers.
No officer was injured.
Police also said no bystanders or other members of the public were hurt during the confrontation.
The officer who fired has not been publicly identified.
SMPD investigators remained in Palisades Park for hours following the shooting, documenting the scene, preserving physical evidence and interviewing people who may have witnessed what happened.
The department’s initial public statement asked people to avoid the area while investigators completed their preliminary work.
Investigators are now examining multiple forms of evidence.
In its Aug. 24 update, the Police Department said detectives are reviewing body-worn camera footage, physical evidence and other video collected from the surrounding area, in addition to conducting witness interviews.
Those recordings could provide a more detailed account of how quickly the confrontation developed, the distance between the man and officers and the commands given immediately before the shooting.
Police have not yet released that footage publicly.
However, the city announced Aug. 25 that body-camera video from the Palisades Park shooting is expected to be made public within the next few weeks as the investigation proceeds.
The city said the officer-involved shooting is being investigated under established protocols.
Santa Monica has previously said its procedures following fatal police shootings include internal review of whether officers complied with department policies and procedures.
Following a separate 2024 fatal officer-involved shooting, the city said SMPD would conduct an internal investigation while the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office separately reviewed the incident.
The city has not yet publicly detailed every outside agency participating in the Aug. 22 Palisades Park investigation.
Santa Monica’s use-of-force framework emphasizes that officers should use only the level of force reasonably necessary and proportional to the circumstances they confront.
City materials describing reforms to the Police Department’s use-of-force policies state that officers are expected to place a high priority on the sanctity of human life and use force based on the threat reasonably perceived at the time.
Whether the officer’s actions in Palisades Park complied with those standards will be evaluated through the ongoing investigation.
The preliminary police account remains only one part of that process.
Authorities have not yet released the complete sequence recorded by body cameras or other video sources.
The shooting occurred in one of Santa Monica’s most heavily visited public spaces.
Palisades Park stretches along Ocean Avenue overlooking the Pacific Ocean and is regularly used by residents, visitors, pedestrians and tourists.
The incident prompted a large emergency response and temporarily disrupted activity around the park and Ocean Avenue.
Three days after the shooting, Santa Monica announced an increased police presence at Palisades Park, the Santa Monica Pier, the beach and downtown, citing the officer-involved shooting and a separate attempted robbery and shooting that occurred near the Pier the following day.
The city said additional officers would provide a more visible public-safety presence in heavily traveled locations.
Police Chief Jacob said the expanded patrols were intended to keep officers accessible to residents, businesses and visitors while maintaining faster response capability in high-traffic areas.
The city characterized the two weekend incidents as separate cases.
There has been no indication that the man killed in Palisades Park had any involvement in the later Pier-area shooting.
Likewise, police have stressed that he was unrelated to the domestic violence investigation officers were conducting immediately before the fatal encounter.
That detail is significant because officers were not initially responding to a report involving the man who was ultimately shot.
Authorities have not explained what brought him into contact with the officers or what occurred in the moments before he allegedly began advancing with the knife.
Police also have not said whether officers had spoken with him before the confrontation or whether anyone nearby had reported him carrying the knife before he approached.
No information has been released about possible mental-health issues, intoxication or other factors that may have influenced his behavior.
Those circumstances should not be assumed without evidence.
Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed the shooting or recorded video in the area to come forward.
The Police Department specifically asks people with information to contact Sgt. George Burciaga at [email protected] or the SMPD Watch Commander at 310-458-8427.
The man’s identity, the name of the officer who fired and additional details about the confrontation remain pending.
Body-worn camera footage and other evidence are still being reviewed.
The investigation remains ongoing.
