By Lookout Staff

April 15, 2011 -- Santa Monica Police officers shot and killed a suspect they found stabbing a woman in Sunset Park Wednesday evening.

The woman was transported to a local hospital for treatment of severe injuries. She is in stable condition, police said Thursday.

A 911 caller alerted police that a man was assaulting a woman in an apartment at 2420 Ocean Park Boulevard at 6:47 p.m. Wednesday.

When the officers arrived, the door to the apartment was locked so they entered through a broken window.

Inside the apartment, they heard struggling in the bedroom where they found the woman lying on the floor with the suspect straddling her chest.

The suspect, identified as the woman's ex-boyfriend, was stabbing her repeatedly in her face and torso and refused to obey the officers' commands to stop, according to police.

Police report that the suspect was mortally wounded in the “officer-involved shooting.” Neighbors heard four shots according to news reports.

The suspect was identified by police as a 59-year-old African-American transient. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

His victim is a 40-year-old African-American resident of Santa Monica.

In keeping with departmental procedure, the officers will be temporarily reassigned until they receive counseling, Sgt. Jay Trisler, Department Spokesman, said Thursday.

The criminal investigation is being handled by the Santa Monica Police Department’s Robbery/Homicide Unit. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division is assisting in the investigation.