Guard Fatally Shoots Man Armed with Swords at Scientology Building
November 24th, 2008Via: Los Angeles Times:
A security guard at the Church of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in Hollywood Sunday shot and killed a man wielding two samurai swords, police said.
Police detained the guard for questioning but said that a surveillance tape at the facility backed his claim that he fired his semiautomatic handgun to protect himself and two colleagues.
“The evidence is very clear the security officers were defending their safety,” said Deputy Chief Terry S. Hara of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police did not release the name of the guard or the man killed in the 1:30 p.m. shooting. An investigator said the man had a history with the church but was not a member now. The tape showed the man arriving at the Celebrity Centre’s Bronson Avenue parking lot in a red convertible, getting out of the vehicle and approaching a trio of security guards and waving a sword in each hand, Hara said.
He said the man, who was described as being in his 40s, was “close enough to hurt them” when the guard fired. The man was taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Det. Wendi Berndt said the man was involved with the church “a long time ago.”
As usual, Ex-scientology nut job dies. Sad to say the least.