Los Angeles police shoot knife-wielding man near famed Hollywood Boulevard amid nationwide crime surge

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Violent crime in Los Angeles rising at rapid pace, sheriff's statistics show

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Los Angeles police shot a man armed with a knife near the city's famed Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday as violent crime continues to surge across the country.

The LAPD confirmed to Fox News that a man carrying a knife was shot by police at 11:06 a.m. local time near the intersection of Hollywood and Highland boulevards after stabbing a woman.

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"At around 11 AM Hollywood division officers were in the area of Hollywood and Highland when they were approached by a victim described as a 19 year old female suffering from a stab wound," the LAPD posted on Twitter. "The victim directed officers to the suspect a male in his 30s armed with a knife."

The tweet added that officers contacted the suspect who was still armed and gave him commands to drop the knife. Police say the suspect ignored those requests and was shot by police.

The LAPD spokesperson added that the man was taken to a local hospital and was in police custody. The female victim, who was stabbed in the abdomen, was also hospitalized and was in stable condition. 

The shooting came the same week the FBI released 2020 crime statistics that showed a surge in murder nationwide.

The United States saw a nearly 30% jump in homicides in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the FBI. That was the largest single-year increase in killings since the agency began tracking crimes. 

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More than 21,000 homicides were reported last year, 4,901 more than in 2019, the biggest leap since the 1960s. Overall violent crime – which includes homicides, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – increased 5.6%, and property crimes dropped by nearly 8%, according to FBI data. 

The jump comes as several cities are seeing record spikes in gun violence after decades of declines in violent crime. The report showed most of the violence involved guns. About 77% of reported murders were committed with some type of gun. 

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Statistics released by the Los Angeles County sheriff earlier this year showed a 200% crime spike from the same time in 2020.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told Fox News that criminals are emboldened by District Attorney George Gascón's progressive policies and stressed that people must understand that elections have consequences.

"They need to really pick and choose very carefully because for them it’s very easy to say, ‘Oh yeah, all cops are bad,’ and, ‘Let’s reform and defund the police,'" Villanueva said. "Yet they’re the very first ones to pick up the 911 when someone’s crawling over their back gate trying to get into their house."

Fox News' Louis Casiano and Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.