Man with knife on floor of Staples Center
Basketball fans wait outside Staples Center before an NBA basketball game between Los Angeles Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Los Angeles. Police engaged in a roughly 20-minute standoff with a knife-wielding man on the floor of Los Angeles' Staples Center. (March 19, 2011) Credit: AP
LOS ANGELES -- A knife-wielding man held police and security guards at bay for nearly an hour at the Staples Center before the Clippers-Cavaliers game yesterday, authorities said. The center's general manager, Lee Zeidman, said the man, who was not identified, walked into the venue through an employee entrance. The man ran to the arena floor, where he was met by 25 security staffers who surrounded him until police arrived.
He eventually made his way to the visiting bench, where he spoke to three police officers with their guns drawn from approximately 20 feet away.
Zeidman said the man made no demands or offer a motive for his actions. Police shot the man with a beanbag gun. He was placed in handcuffs and escorted out. The court was reopened to players, media and arena employees 18 minutes after the man's arrest. -- AP
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