Officer Slays Man in Home After Alleged Knife Threats

A Huntington Beach police officer shot and killed a man who allegedly had threatened him and others with a knife Thursday, police said.

The fatal shooting took place about 5 p.m. in a home at 17162 Wildrose Lane in Huntington Beach. The home is in a residential area about half a mile south of Meadowlark Country Club. Two unidentified Huntington Beach officers were investigating a complaint about a knife-wielding man inside the house when the shooting took place.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Few details and no identities were available from investigators Thursday night.

Huntington Beach police, in an unusual move, clamped a lid of secrecy on the shooting, refusing to disclose the name of the victim or the police officer who shot him.

Described as Vietnamese Immigrant

A neighbor and a witness at the scene said that the victim, described as a 35-year-old Vietnamese immigrant, had threatened his sister during an argument. Police were called, witnesses said, and the shooting took place inside the Wildrose Lane residence when officers tried to apprehend the man, who allegedly was wielding a knife. No other people were hurt in the incident.

The only information disclosed by police Thursday was a brief message given at 7:55 p.m. by phone on the tape-recorded “press information line.” The tape-recorded message was as follows:

“Today at 5 p.m., at 17162 Wildrose Lane in Huntington Beach, officers responded to a call regarding a male subject accosting residents with a knife. Two Huntington Beach officers were dispatched to the scene. Officers confronted the suspect at the residence. During the confrontation, the suspect attacked one of the officers with a knife.

‘Discharged His Service Weapon’

“The officer discharged his service weapon, and the suspect was apparently hit by one or more bullets. Paramedics responded to the scene, where the suspect was pronounced dead.

“As per Huntington Beach Police Department procedures and policies, the incident is being investigated by the Orange County district attorney’s office. No further information is available until authorized by district attorney’s investigator Harry Graves.

“There are no names available of either the officers or the deceased.”

Efforts to locate Graves for comment were unsuccessful. A resident of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, Danh Tran, told a reporter that the man who was fatally shot had been arguing with the man’s sister.

The woman identified as the victim’s sister was taken away in a police car, reportedly to Huntington Beach police headquarters for questioning.