SANTA CLARITA (CNS) - Detectives investigated this morning a deputy- involved shooting in Santa Clarita in which a suspect fought with a deputy, took his radio and stun gun, then charged other arriving deputies while armed with a wooden stake before being fatally shot.
A deputy responded about 1 p.m. Thursday to a suspicious person call in the 25200 block of Rye Canyon Road where he encountered a shirtless man screaming outside an urgent care facility. The suspect attacked the deputy, who then retreated to his vehicle and called for help, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
As the deputy called for help from his cruiser, the suspect broke the windshield on the vehicle, sheriff's Lt. Brandon Dean said.
“The suspect then retreated back behind a small pillar,” the lieutenant said.
Additional deputies arrived and the suspect came at them with “a large wooden stake,” leading to the deputy-involved shooting, Dean said.
The suspect was shot at least twice in the upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, the department said.
The injured deputy was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries, treated and released, the LASD said.
The suspect was not immediately identified.
In October 2018, the LASD, along with the Los Angeles and Long Beach police departments, joined with The Guidance Center to launch a series of web- based training videos that provide law enforcement officers with tools to readily identify the signs of mental illness in the field and to safely de- escalate such encounters.
“The new training videos give more officers and deputies access to critically important information about individuals who suffer from mental illness,” then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell said at the time. “This resource will help provide police with some of the tools needed to increase compassion and reduce the need to use force. The goal is to purposefully de-escalate the situation and work toward a positive resolution and get them help.”
The Roll Call Mental Health Training video series covers topics such as how to assess for serious mental illness, understanding autism and nonviolent de-escalation tactics.
The Guidance Center is a nonprofit child and family mental health service provider based in Long Beach.
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