Los Angeles deputies shoot and kill spearchucker

[Jerry Brown]

A man shot and killed by sheriff's deputies Thursday night in
Santa Clarita was wielding a spear, running in and out of
traffic -- striking at least one passing vehicle with the weapon
-- and later pulling out a knife, authorities said.

Witnesses flagged down two deputies on patrol at about 8:25 p.m.
near the intersection of Shangri-La Drive and Soledad Canyon
Road and told them about the man, according to the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department.

The man, who was not immediately identified, was found standing
on a center median with a metal spear and "behaving strangely,"
the Sheriff's Department said.

Priscilla Garcia told KTLA she was in the middle of the fray
when the man came at her vehicle and stabbed at her back window.

"And he charged at me with such anger like he wanted to hurt
me," she said.

The man ignored orders from the deputies and, after striking a
passing vehicle with his spear, he was shot by at least one of
the officers but appeared "unscathed" and continued his erratic
behavior, the Sheriff's Department said in a news release.

When the deputies moved back toward their vehicle, the man
started advancing while wielding a knife, the department said.

That's when at least one deputy fired again and struck the man
multiple times in the upper torso. The man was pronounced dead
at the scene, officials said.

There have been at least 286 homicides caused by officer-
involved shootings reported in Los Angeles County since 2007,
according to The Times' Homicide Report database.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-clarita-man-
shot-killed-spear-deputies-20140131,0,1232162.story#axzz2s2qvDu5I
 
 

[Jerry Brown]