By Steve Gorman and Daina Beth Solomon LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles police shot and killed a homeless man who grabbed at an officer's gun during a videotaped scuffle, authorities said on Monday, in an incident highlighting the often volatile interactions between law enforcement and mentally ill residents of the city's skid row. The man, known by the street name Africa, had been living for weeks in a tent outside the Union Rescue Mission building where Sunday's shooting occurred and had a history of violent, erratic behavior, the mission's director said. Local civil rights activists called on the city police commission to hold a hearing on the police use of force on skid row, a square-mile area downtown that ranks as one of the largest concentrations of homeless people in United States. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said officers responding to a robbery call outside the rescue mission "acted compassionately" toward the man who was identified as the suspect "up until the time that force was required." He said the man fought with officers when they tried to take him into custody, then kept resisting as they tried to subdue him with a stun gun.
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