Garden Grove police shoot man wielding sledgehammer
A Garden Grove police officer shot and killed a man who lunged at officers with a sledgehammer after leading them on a chase through a residential neighborhood Saturday, authorities said.
Police were called to Twin Lakes Park near Lampson Avenue and Haster Street about 12:46 p.m. after a caller reported a man “acting strangely,” said Lt. David Kivler.
When an officer approached the man, whose name and age were not released, he thrust his hands into his waistband and started yelling, Kivler said. The officer, also not identified, called for back-up and requested a Taser gun designed to stun suspects with an electrical charge.
When the man started to run, officials said, officers trailed him through several backyards -- losing him at one point -- before cornering him in the 12500 block of Volkwood Street. The man then charged at an officer with a 5-pound sledgehammer, Kivler said, and the officer fired. Police could not say where the man got the sledgehammer.
The man died at the scene.
The officer will be placed on paid administrative leave while the Orange County district attorney’s office investigates, Kivler said.
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