Local News in Brief : Guard Slays Man at Airport
A St. Louis man was shot and killed by a Long Beach Municipal Airport security guard after he reportedly attacked the guard with a three-foot length of pipe on an airport runway early Thursday, police said.
Before the attack the man had vandalized Los Angeles County sheriff’s helicopters based at the airport, then attacked and critically wounded a victim believed to be a retired Los Angeles police officer who had witnessed the vandalism, Long Beach police said.
Lt. Dan Stow said the 30-year-old man, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, had “exhibited classical signs of someone under the influence of PCP.” An autopsy was scheduled.
After the vandalism incidents, the man ran about 100 yards to the back of a hotel, where he encountered and attacked retired Los Angeles Officer Wilbur Lightsey with the pipe.
The Missouri man then ran on to the runway, where guard Larry Hart, 43, intercepted him. After the man started swinging the pipe striking him on the arm, Hart fired his revolver several times, killing the man.
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