LUCERNE, Calif. – A Lucerne man was fatally shot early Sunday after he charged two deputies with a knife.
The shooting occurred shortly after 12 a.m. in the 6400 block of 16th Avenue.
District Attorney Don Anderson said deputies responded to the residence on the report of a domestic dispute involving a married couple.
When the deputies arrived at the home, the husband charged them with a knife, “and they shot and killed him,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the fatal confrontation occurred in the front yard of the residence.
Reports from the scene early Sunday indicated the man had been shot in the chest. Medics were called but canceled shortly afterward.
Anderson said his office is handling the criminal investigation as part of the county's critical incident protocol, which is used in cases where members of law enforcement are involved in fatal incidents or other situations resulting in injury.
The protocol requires the sheriff's office to conduct a separate internal affairs investigation, Anderson said.
Anderson on Sunday was not yet prepared to release the names of the two male deputies involved or the man who died.
Law enforcement officials were on the scene of the shooting until about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, processing evidence.
A neighbor, who had been asleep at the time of the shooting, told Lake County News that he was awakened by his wife and witnessed the scene as authorities arrived to conduct the investigation.
The man said the street “looked like a parking lot for police cars,” and sheriff's personnel and district attorney staff arrived at the scene.
As the scene was processed, the body of the man who died remained in the yard behind a wooden fence, while an equipment cart sat in the street covered by a tarp, according to the neighbor.
John Jensen contributed to this report.
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Deputies shoot, kill man who charged them with a knife
- Elizabeth Larson
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