Man Shot, Killed by Police After Break-In and Attack

A young man apparently under the influence of drugs was shot to death by Los Alamitos police Wednesday after an early morning rampage that culminated when he broke into a house and assaulted a woman, authorities said.

The attack occurred just moments after the suspect escaped from a nearby hospital, where police had taken him for treatment of a possible drug overdose.

“This is scary,” said Mac Najara, a neighbor who said he was too upset to go to work after the incident. “We’ve never had any problems like this. It bothers me.”

The dead man was identified as Michael Brown, 19, of Los Alamitos. The woman he allegedly struck in the face and head was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for minor facial injuries and released.

According the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating the shooting, the sequence of events that led to Brown’s death began at 3:45 a.m. when his mother, with whom he lived on Green Avenue, called 911 to report that her son was acting irrationally, possibly as the result of a drug overdose or withdrawal.

Responding to the call, a team of paramedics determined that Brown required a mental health evaluation and took him to the Los Alamitos Medical Center. Two police officers who accompanied him to the hospital stayed a short time and then left.

About an hour later, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini, police were summoned to the hospital, where Brown was reported to be “creating a disturbance” that could not be controlled. Officers, however, succeeded in calming him, Martini said.

About 6 a.m. they were summoned again after Brown, apparently agitated by the arrival of his mother, left the hospital against the advice of its staff, Martini said.

A short time later, Brown was seen by patrol officers on Reagan Street about two blocks from the hospital where, after unsuccessfully trying to break into three houses, he kicked in the rear door of a fourth house occupied by a couple and their 15-year-old son, Martini said. After ransacking the kitchen, Brown hit the woman in the head and face, then retreated into a bathroom just as three police officers arrived, Martini said.

Brown emerged from the bathroom wielding a pair of eight-inch scissors over his head as if to attack the officers, Martini said. Officers ordered him several times to drop the scissors, and when he lunged at them he was shot twice in the chest, Martini said.

“At that point it was just a matter of survival,” Martini said. “I mean this guy was going at the officer holding a weapon. And the officer’s intent was clearly to stop him.”

Brown was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesman for the Los Alamitos Police Department would not comment on the case, referring all calls to Martini, who said the Sheriff’s Department is conducting a routine investigation of the shooting for the Los Alamitos Police Department because it involved police officers.

The three officers involved have been placed on three-day administrative leave pending completion of the inquiry, in keeping with departmental policy, Martini said. He would not identify them.

“This is something very traumatic for the officers and for everyone involved,” Martini said.

At the apartment complex where Brown lived, relatives remained secluded. “This is a family tragedy,” said a man answering the door who would not give his name. “It’s our family tragedy. This isn’t the time to talk.”