A man brought to a hospital after attacking police was shot to death by a Los Angeles officer in the emergency room after he swung a metal chair and grabbed for an officer's gun, authorities said.

Authorities brought the man to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance to get checked out after he "viciously attacked" two officers sent to investigate reports of a man throwing bottles at an apartment complex and fighting with his neighbors Saturday morning, Cmdr. Phil Tingirides said.

During the initial struggle, the man kicked and punched the officers and knocked a stun gun out of one officer's hand, Tingirides said. More officers were called, and they subdued the man.

When he was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, the man was initially cooperative with two officers assigned to take him into custody.

The man was handcuffed to a gurney, and when the officers briefly took them off, he picked up the chair and began swinging it, Tingirides said.

Nurses and doctors in the emergency room told investigators that one of the officers tried to subdue the man with a stun gun, but it wasn't effective. When the man tried to reach for an officer's gun, the officer's partner fired one round and struck him, the witnesses said.

The hospital staff immediately began to treat his gunshot wound, but he died in the emergency room, Tingirides said.

The man's name has not been released.