Police fire at least 2 volleys of non-lethal projectiles during protest over police shooting

September 7, 2010 | 9:46 pm

Los Angeles police Tuesday night fired at least two volleys of nonlethal projectiles at crowds near 6th Street and Union Avenue in Westlake as people protested the fatal shooting of a man who officers said was threatening them and passersby with a switch-blade Sunday afternoon.

Police used bullhorns to declare an unlawful assembly around 9:30 p.m., and some in the crowd hurled rocks and bottles in the direction officers.

The demonstrators, including families with children, bolted down the street and into alleyways as the nonlethal shots were fired. During the ruckus, witnesses said, a man fell off his bicycle and struck his head.

The 20-year-old, Jesus Alejandro Hernandez Carmona, was lying on the ground and bleeding profusely from the left side of his head. He was near a candle-lighted memorial to Jamines.

Carmona was surrounded by a crowd, which was bookended by police lined up along 6th and Union on the east and Burlington Avenue on the west.

Los Angeles Fire Department ambulances were at the scene but were not crossing the police line. When asked by a reporter why the man was not receiving medical attention, a police commander said, “Tough.â€