Machete Incident Near Crypto.com Arena
Los Angeles police have released new video of the July 13 shooting in which 36-year-old Gurpreet Singh was shot and died after a confrontation with police outside Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. Singh was armed with a large machete in the middle of a busy intersection and refused repeated orders from police to drop the machete.
The video displays Singh standing in the crosswalk, machete in hand, and waving it as bystanders called 911 to report a man brandishing a blade towards pedestrians. Police report Singh then went back to his car, splashed water at police, and drove erratically before running into a police vehicle. The LAPD reports he then got out of the car and rushed towards officers with the knife, causing them to shoot. Singh died from his wounds on July 17.
Los Angeles police shot dead Gurpreet Singh, 35, after he stopped his car in the middle of an intersection and allegedly swung a machete at people.
Now compare this with India. Here, mobs can assault police, humiliate them into folding hands, circulate those images as “victory,”… pic.twitter.com/N2Hsyuif9V
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) August 29, 2025
Martial Arts or Threat?
Some people on social media have conjectured that Singh was perhaps doing Gatka, a classical Sikh martial art that includes sword fighting. LAPD officers, however, stand by the fact that witnesses had reported a man swinging a blade at people, posing a perceived threat. The authorities found a two-foot-long machete, which they later found to be a khanda, a double-edged sword traditionally used in Indian martial arts, and booked it as evidence.
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Investigation Underway
The shooting is now being investigated, with officials examining the events leading up to the encounter. The LAPD verified that neither civilians nor officers were hurt in the incident. Police officials noted Singh’s behaviour as erratic and perilous, including driving dangerously and trying to hit officers with the firearm.
The posting of the video has stimulated debate regarding cultural sensitivity and law enforcement reaction when martial arts traditional to a culture are misinterpreted as threats. The LAPD said that officers acted within procedure and continuously attempted to de-escalate the situation before they exercised deadly force.
The incident has stirred controversy within local communities, with demands that proper scrutiny of how law enforcement responds to interactions with people engaging in cultural or religious martial arts in public areas is undertaken.
