Updated at 2:45 p.m. July 14, 2014
A machete-wielding man who slashed a police dog and threatened to kill family members and police officers while holed up in a City Heights apartment was shot dead by police, a lieutenant said Monday.
Police were dispatched to 3842 Menlo Ave. around 10:20 p.m. Sunday in a response to reports that 21-year-old man was threatening to kill his family with a knife, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Officers arrived to find the “agitated” suspect holding a knife and a stick, San Diego police Lt. Manuel Del Toro said. He started making threats toward the officers, then armed himself with the machete.
Officers tried to subdue the suspect using stun guns and police dogs but were unsuccessful, Del Toro said. The suspect struck one of the police dogs on its back with the machete, he said.
Del Toro said the suspect then swung the weapon at an officer, which prompted two other officers to open fire.
The suspect was shot multiple times shortly before 11 p.m. and was declared dead at the scene about 10 minutes later, according to police and the county Medical Examiner’s Office.
The police dog, an 8-year-old German Shepherd, received staples to close the wound and is expected to survive. He has been with the department since 2008 and was set to retire this month, the lieutenant said.
The officers who fatally shot the suspect have been employed by the San Diego Police Department for 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 years, according to Del Toro. The officers’ names were withheld, as was that of the suspect.
— City News Service
