Firefighters in South Los Angeles said they had to physically fight off a man who was caught on camera attacking a fire truck after a confrontation.
As firefighters from Fire Station 16 were heading to the scene of the accident, the man suddenly got into the fire truck.
“We were literally responding to a traffic accident and this guy came out of nowhere, jumped in front of the engine and started punching,” said Andrew Chain, a firefighter and paramedic who was in the truck at the time of the accident.
Chain said the bizarre encounter happened June 7 near the intersection of Central Avenue and Nadeau Street, about a half-mile from the fire station, where video shows a man punching the window of a truck before pointing a gun at firefighters.
“He reached inside the vehicle and started assaulting the driver, so I quickly jumped out of the vehicle to check on him, get him off and was able to push him back a little bit,” Chain said.
Eventually, Chain called for backup, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded. After a few minutes of delay, the man was taken into custody.
Chain said this isn’t the first time his team has encountered the suspect. He said firefighters saw the man a month or two ago and he told them he was under the influence of drugs. As a result, the fire department sent him to a psychiatric hospital, Chain told NBC4.
Police have not identified the person responsible for Friday’s shooting. It is unclear what charges the gunman will face. The incident is under investigation by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.