Off-Duty LA Deputy Shot Dead at Golf Course After Pointing Gun at Police

TheCruxofBag · #1 ● 08-16-2023, 03:40 PM

An off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy suffering a mental health crisis was shot dead by Fontana police officers after he pointed a handgun at them on a golf course near his home, officials said Wednesday.

Fontana police officers responded to a call of shots being fired shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday and found the man, later identified as an off-duty deputy, on the Sierra Lakes Golf Club course with a handgun, according to police, who did not identify the deputy.

The off-duty deputy pointed the gun at the officers as they tried to talk to him, prompting multiple officers to fire their weapons, police said. No other officers were hurt in the confrontation near the golf clubhouse.

Paramedics treated the unidentified man at the scene before taking him to a hospital, where he later died, according to law enforcement sources not authorized to discuss the incident.

The off-duty deputy lived in a home adjacent to the golf course and had suffered a mental health crisis, according to the sources. Those sources described the deputy as acting visibly distraught and likely under the influence of alcohol.

Some witnesses told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that the deputy fired his weapon at a wall on his property and into the air on the golf course before officers arrived.