Update Saturday, Feb. 1 (KHTS): The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office has identified the man shot by deputies as 47-year-old Steven Burke Pettersen.
Public records show a Steven Pettersen, age 47, with a Sunland address.
Friday, Jan. 31: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Detectives are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding a Deputy Involved (Hit) Shooting that occurred on Shangri-La Drive and Soledad Canyon Road, in Canyon County. On Thursday, at approximately 8:25 p.m., patrol deputies from Santa Clarita Station were flagged down by citizens who reported a man was in the area, running in and out of traffic, holding a spear, and waving it at passersby on the road.
With additional calls to Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station, a Sheriff’s patrol unit located the male- suspect standing on the center medium near the intersection of Shangri-La Drive and Soledad Canyon Road, holding a metal spear, and behaving strangely. The deputies approached the suspect to give him the opportunity to comply with their verbal orders. The suspect ignored deputies and struck a passing vehicle with the spear. At some point during the contact a deputy involved shooting occurred. The suspect, appearing unscathed by the shooting, continued his erratic behavior. When both deputies moved back toward their vehicle, the suspect, now holding a knife in his hand, advanced at the deputies, at which point a second deputy involved shooting occurred. The suspect was struck by gunfire multiple times on the upper torso.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Deputies were not injured.
Both weapons were recovered.
There is no further information at this time.
Whenever an Officer-Involved Shooting occurs involving Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies, and it results in a wounding, multiple independent investigations immediately begin at the scene. These include separate investigations by the Office of the Los Angeles District Attorney and the Los Angeles County Coroner, as well as investigations by Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau and Internal Affairs Bureau. Attorneys with the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review also respond to the scene, and have full access to the facts known to the Sheriff’s Department throughout every phase of these investigations. Once concluded, every aspect of the shooting is reviewed by the Sheriff’s Executive Force Review Committee.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
Crystal Hernandez, Deputy
Don Walker, Deputy
Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau – Newsroom
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
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13 Comments
Why is there a runner in the photo?
That’s what I was going to say…why is the pic a UCLA track girl???
huh… we’re not seeing what you’re seeing
I see the same picture as Christine.
Me to. I thought she was involved because of it.
He had a knife, not a gun…why didn’t they just tase him in the very beginning?
What happened to using rubber bullets? There are people who are mentally unstable who need help, not killed!!! This was murder in my eyes and many others. When will it end?
Yeah definitely a runner in the photo not sure if it’s cause I’m looking at this on mobile feed or what
So now we just kill the obviously mentally ill, costs less to bury them than to help them.
Heather Edwards /aryanna bassett/Andrea Slominski
He was tased – no effect.
For the record, if you come at me or my family with a spear or sword…and I am unarmed because I live in this Liberal Disneyland called California…I’ll step on the accelerator and plaster your face all over the pavement.
Why do they always shoot to kill when there is no gun involved? What happened to aiming for the legs? The emotionally disturbed need to be treated, not killed! Outrageous!!
He clearly had a HOCKEY stick, not a spear and knife. What happened to the policy of “escalation of force”? Start with non-lethal means of control and go from there.
My buddy lives near there and watched all this happen. The guy who was shot was wearing boxers and a shirt with a cast on his arm. It was clear to him and others watching that the guy was holding a hockey stick not any type of knife or spear like the cops are trying to say. Everyone at the scene was shocked that the sheriffs shot this man since the man made no verbal threats to cops or bystanders. Seems like a classic case of excessive force. Anyone who lives in L.A county knows this is not the first time excessive deadly force was used and it wont be the last. There are plenty of bystanders who clearly saw the man had no knife and only had a hockey stick when he was shot at 10 times in a crowded neighborhood by trigger happy cops.