O.C. Man With Knife Is Killed by Police

Garden Grove police said they shot and killed a man Tuesday whose mother had told them he was under the influence of methamphetamine and wanted to commit “suicide by cop.”

Police said Dax Gonzalez, 32, of Garden Grove threatened them with a 12-inch-long kitchen knife that he refused to drop after several warnings.

Gonzalez’s mother called police from a grocery store parking lot about 6:25 p.m. and said she was afraid to go home because her son, whom she had repeatedly kicked out of the house, was acting bizarrely.

When police arrived at the home in the 12200 block of Adelle Street, Gonzalez walked down the driveway carrying the knife, said Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield. Police ordered him many times to drop it, but he refused, Handfield said.

Officers fired beanbags at Gonzalez after he continued to threaten them, Handfield said.

The beanbags had no effect, and when Gonzalez advanced on police, several officers fired, Handfield said.

“I don’t know what else we could’ve done,” Handfield said. “The officers had no choice.”

The officers, whose names were not released, remain on the job, Handfield said.

The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating, which is standard procedure in police shootings.