UPDATE at 9:44 p.m., Thursday, July 9, 2015: Police say the suspect used an officer's Taser against one of the cops. More below.

A man carrying a skateboard was shot by police in the Miracle Mile area today.

He was hospitalized in critical condition, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Rosario Herrera told us.

Officers responding to a call of vandalism on South La Brea Avenue near Eighth Street got into a confrontation with the man about 8:40 a.m.,  she said.

“They saw a man who match the suspect's description breaking storefront windows with a skateboard,” Herrera said. “Officers told the suspect to stop, but he refused their verbal commands.”

The cops and the man got into an “altercation,” she said, and at least one of the officers opened fire, striking the suspect.

Herrera said it was “unknown” if any officers were injured. 

Some news reports described the suspect as appearing to be homeless.

 
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says city paramedics responded to a report of a shooting in the area at 8:50 a.m. and transported a patient to a hospital.

The LAPD came under fire in 1999 after officers fatally shot a grocery cart-pushing homeless woman, Margaret Mitchell, at La Brea Avenue and Fourth Street.

UPDATE at 9:44 p.m., Thursday, July 9, 2015: The department issued a statement with more details.

Cops say the shooting happened at Eighth Street and Sycamore Avenue after the officers “caught up with the suspect,” who had fled the vandalism area on the skateboard and then either jumped or fell off around the corner, LAPD stated.

A physical struggle ensued, and one officer tried to use a Taser on the suspect, but it “had no apparent effect,” according to the statement.

Somehow, the suspect got his hands on the Taser and zapped one of the cops' legs, at which point the partner opened fire with his or her service weapon, police said.

The officer who was hit by the Taser sustained a burn mark, and both cops ultimately required treatment at a clinic, authorities said.

The Force Investigation Division and the District Attorney's Office will investigate.

Witnesses were asked to call Force Investigation detectives at 213­-486­-5230..

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