Man dies in shooting by LAPD officer

An LAPD officer shot and killed a man in West Los Angeles early Friday after the man allegedly brandished what police say was a cigarette lighter that “simulated a small-caliber pistol.”

Police initially said the man was holding a replica handgun that resembled a 9-millimeter weapon.

The incident began about 2:15 a.m. after Officer Peter Mah, who was patrolling for burglaries in an unmarked car, saw a man who appeared to be stealing from a lumber yard.

Mah, who was in uniform, followed the suspect as he drove north on Sawtelle Boulevard toward West Pico and West Olympic boulevards, said Lt. Ruben De La Torre.

When the man realized he was being followed, he stopped the car and walked toward the pursuing vehicle with the lighter in his hand, said Officer Ana Aguirre.

Mah, a 10-year Police Department veteran, fired “several” shots, killing the man, De La Torre said.

The deceased man, an African American born in 1960, has not been identified pending notification of his family, police and coroner’s officials said.

Sacks of fertilizer and potting soil, possibly from the lumber yard, were found in his car, police said.

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