Man Shoots At Family, Gets Shot By Police

Police shot and seriously wounded a man Sunday they say fired his own weapon into an inhabited home, fought with the residents inside and later pointed his gun at officers.

Los Angeles police officers responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and shots fired just before 5 p.m. Sunday in the 10200 block of South Main Street. As they arrived, officers were confronted by a man with a handgun.

The man, later identified as Melvin Butler, 27, allegedly raised the gun and pointed it at the officers, prompting them to shoot him. He was struck multiple times in the "lower extremities," according to the news release.

An investigation revealed that Butler was involved in a fight with one of the residents of a home in the area before officers arrived, police said. He was unarmed and inside the home, got into the initial altercation, left and returned with a handgun, according to the news release.

Now armed, Butler demanded he be let into the home. The residents -- who police say included several adults and "numerous" children -- refused. Butler then fired his gun once through the home's front door, police said. The residents scrambled for safety, hiding from Butler.

Butler then found a way inside the home through a side door. Once inside, he allegedly attacked a man. That man and Butler struggled over control of the gun.

The man's wife jumped into the fray, trying to help her husband gain control of the weapon, but Butler overpowered both, broke free and fled. Police say that's when he emerged from the home and was shot by officers.

Both Butler and the man he fought with were rushed to nearby hospitals in serious condition, though police did not say how the other man was injured. When Butler is released from the hospital, he will be booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer. His bail will be set at $200,000.

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