A swarm of bees has injured at least two people in California, including a uniformed police staffer.
News outlets in the Los Angeles area including KTTV Fox 11 News and KABC/ABC7 Los Angeles reported that a swarm of bees injured at least two people in Encino, California, a suburb ofLos Angeles, on Monday.
Aerial video from KTTV shows a man in a uniform apparently swatting away bees before he briefly falls down in the street.
A second uniformed man started to get out of a car before changing his mind.
Both KTTV and KABC report that the man who fell is a Los Angeles Police Department volunteer. The LAPD later said on Twitter that the volunteer sustained dozens of bee stings, and that he was taken to a local hospital where he was listed in stable condition.
“One of our LAPD Volunteers assigned to West Valley Division sustained dozens of bee stings earlier today while assisting with a call for service,” the LAPD wrote.
“Fortunately he’s in stable condition at a local hospital.
“Wishing him a speedy and full recovery. We thank him for volunteering to protect and serve. All of our LAPD volunteers are invaluable,” they added.
Blood could be seen on the ground after the man collapsed. Photo / AP
KABC’s aerial video from the scene later showed a man in protective gear being surrounded by insects as he investigated a spot at the edge of the roof of a house, the apparent source of the bee swarm.
In 2022, a Massachusetts woman released a swarm of bees on sheriff’s deputies as they tried to serve an eviction notice.
Rorie S Woods, 55, and other protesters were trying to prevent what they claimed was a wrongful eviction.
Woods arrived in an SUV towing a trailer carrying bee hives and started “shaking” them, breaking the cover off one and causing hundreds of bees to swarm out and initially sting one deputy, according to a report at the time.
Woods, who put on a beekeeper’s suit to protect herself, was eventually handcuffed - but not before several more sheriff’s department employees were stung, including three who are allergic to bees, the report said.
