The Los Angeles police chief has defended officers who shot dead a man in the Skid Row homeless district, after a video of the killing went viral, triggering widespread condemnation.
Under intense pressure over the incident - just the latest to put police tactics in the United States under the spotlight - Charlie Beck said video evidence showed the victim reached for one of the police officers' guns just before to the fatal shots were fired.
"While on the ground and struggling with the officers, the man forcibly grabbed one of the officers' holstered pistols, resulting in an officer-involved shooting," Beck told reporters.
In what could become a test case, two of the officers were wearing body cameras, part of a force-wide project designed to help bring clarity in just such disputed situations, he said.
The officers' video has not been released.
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"At this point in the investigation it would not be proper for us to release it," Beck said, adding that he believed the officers "acted compassionately up until the time force was required."
Graphic amateur video footage which appeared on Facebook shows a violent altercation between a man and several officers in Skid Row, an area near downtown Los Angeles where many homeless people live.
The video appears to show the man flailing at officers as they try to subdue him.
A voice apparently yelling "Drop the gun!" can be heard before several shots ring out and several onlookers cry out in alarm.
Beck said that he had reviewed video and audio in which one of the officers repeatedly shouted "He's got my gun!"
The Los Angeles Police Department earlier said three police officers - a sergeant and two officers - fired at the man.
Police were called to the scene over a reported robbery and were attempting to detain the suspect, who had been fighting, Beck told reporters at LAPD headquarters, the morning after the shooting.
During the struggle, police also used a Taser, but "to little effect," he said.
The man, whom US media reported to be living in one of the area's many tents, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, an LAPD spokesman said.
Two officers sustained minor injuries, and those who fired on the man have been removed from the field and assigned home for the time being, Smith added.
