Man with knife, pit bull shot by deputy in Arcadia [Updated]

A man armed with a knife and accompanied by a leashed pit bull was in critical condition Tuesday after being shot by an L.A. County sheriff's deputy at a park in Arcadia, authorities said.

The shooting occurred about 9:45 p.m. Monday when police responded to a domestic-violence call at Peck Road Park. A woman said she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, said Tom Martin, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The boyfriend became “hostile” as deputies questioned the woman, and he advanced on officers while holding a pit bull on a leash with one hand and a knife in the other, Martin said.

A deputy feared for his safety when the man approached, and he shot the man twice, Martin said.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he was in critical condition, authorities said. No deputies were injured.

[Updated at 10 a.m.: The man and woman are transients who live in a homeless encampment in the park, said Lt. Don Slawson of the sheriff’s homicide bureau, which is investigating the alleged assault against the deputy who fired his weapon and the legality of the shooting itself.

Internal affairs bureau is also conducting its own investigation. Both are standard procedure after a deputy-involved shooting, Slawson said.]

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-- Shan Li

Comments

[A Voice]

This highlights one of the problems between Police and society that should be fixed.

I am not saying what he did was wrong but I am saying if we did that, under the law, we would be wrong. If a private citizen did the shooting under the same circumstances, they would be jailed, etc.

Police should be held accountable under the same laws they enforce and receive the same scrutiny and punishment as private citizen when they use deadly force. The badge should not offer Police extra protection and lack of oversight.

What would happen to you or me if we shot everybody that you or I could claim threaten our safety?

[ljl]

So was the dog shot as well??

[The Voice of Reason]

Police work is a tough job, and it's made even tougher by asinine comments like those below. Who in their right mind would demand of cops to wait to be stabbed before they defend themselves? Or better yet, get attacked by a pit bull when the owner, holding the knife, releases the leash and calmly waits to stab the officer while he wrestles with the dog?

This person must be a close family member or friend of the suspect. A threat from a knife and a pit bull is more than just a "claim," it has a basis in reality backed up by physical evidence, namely the dog, the knife, the domestic violence victim/witness, and the bad guy...

[ljl]

"What would happen to you or me if we shot everybody that you or I could claim threaten our safety?" There would be less idiots alive...

"What would happened if we could just ram people off the roads, that drove bad?"

Ahhh things to ponder about...

[if yerma]

Since when is someone with an attack dog coming at you with a knife a threat? Where's Bruce Lee?

[John Doe]

I believe if someone is approaching you with a knife, a dog, AND you feel your life is in imediate danger, you would be exempt from this shooting..

[Rich]

Hopefully.

[complete180]

Media often does not get it right, and the slightest variation of a detail may change a perspective. We must continually remind ourselves of this. That being said, if these are indeed the facts, sounds like the officer was completely justified. And, if the dog was being agressive, it should have been shot, as well.

[Astonished]

Hey ljl, the last time I looked at the news people are getting shot all the time for just looking different, and Hit and Run accidents are at an all time high. People who have NEVER policed more than their refrigerator's contents always like to judge the actions of the police. Officers come upon scenes like this all the time and have to make assessments after only 2-3 minutes of observation. It's been proven that people who are high on certain drugs DO NOT respond to tasering, hitting with batons and/or pepper spray. The officer doesn't know the condition of the person, nor the actions the dog will take at any time. I say he chose correctly. As far as I'm concerned, if you advance on any police officer with any form of weapon, be it dog, knife gun, nunchucks, or a great big stick, you deserve whatever it takes to keep that officer safe. We need them way more than we need the criminals.

[Andrew]

It's bizarre this is even up for debate.

On the question of whether you can shoot people who threaten you--actually, yes, the burden is the same on a police officer or a citizen. You need to establish that you reasonably feared for your safety or that of another person.

Moreover, a police officer will actually face far more scrutiny that a private citizen would. The private citizen would face scrutiny by the officer(s) who show up afterwards, his watch commander, a detective, then the local DA. You'd know instantly if you were going to jail (and if it was reasonably in self defense, you'd almost certainly not go), and then you're pretty much waiting for the DA to say they aren't going to file on you.

A police officer, on the other hand, will be in for 6-9 months, at least, of investigations by Homicide, Internal Affairs, the department's external watchdog, the District Attorney's officer-involved-shooting team, lawyers for the suspect/their family/friends, to say nothing of local politicians, the media, etc.

On issues this serious, there really should be a requirement of some kind that people have some idea what they're talking about before they opine.

[u know]

@A Voice

Wrong my friend. If you were in a place that you had legal standing to be in, just like the cop in this instance, and you lawfully possessed a firearm, just like the cop in this instance, and a male who had just assualted a female became hostile towards you and then advanced at you holding a knife in one hand and a pitbull on a leash on the other hand you would absolutely be justified to use deadly force on him to protect yourself.

[TP]

If it was just an ordinary person holding a gun, this moron would have never had the balls to come closer with his dog & knife. Since it was an officer, he probably felt he had more protection.

[clem]

instead of backing away to safety cops always have to shoot someone.

Even if you think the guy with the pit bull and knife is an idiot (I do), the cop should avoid all the crap that come from shooting someone and just walk away and wait for other cops who can control the situation and wait the guy out. The law will always get the scumbag and we have all the time we need. But cops, please use some common sense and instead of killing people with near impunity by using the same old excuses such as, "he reached for his waistband", "I felt threatened" or placing guns and knives on people you shoot. Just walk away from a guy with a knife and if he corners you, then kill him. Otherwise, you should be able to not make a bad situation worse.

For all the salaries and pensions and early retirement we give these cops, they never seem to exercise enough common sense to stop killing people they don't have to kill. And don't tell us cops live in a different universe and the pressure, bla bla. excuses excuses

[u know]

@clem

It's too bad that you have a felony record, otherwise you too would be elgible to go be a cop, and then you could collect that big salary and pension and retire early. You obviously know how to do the job better than they do so you don't even need to be trained. Oh if something goes sideways out there, so make any excuses....we don't want to hear em.