UPDATE: Santa Clarita Deputy-Involved Shooting, Suspect Dead

Posted by: Perry Smith in Santa Clarita News January 30, 2014 - 9:31 pm 0 1,069 Views

UPDATED AT 2/1/14 @ 1:10 p.m.

Ed. Note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated as information becomes available.

Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau are investigating the circumstances surrounding a deputy-involved, fatal shooting on Soledad Canyon Road, near Sierra Highway, in Canyon Country.

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A Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station patrol deputy found a man standing on the center median near the intersection of Shangri-La Drive and Soledad Canyon Road, holding a metal spear, and behaving strangely, near the 18600 block of Soledad Canyon Road around 8:22 p.m. Thursday night.

Deputies from Santa Clarita Valley 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.

The deputies approached the suspect to give him the opportunity to comply with their verbal orders, according to a Sheriff’s Station Nixle report.

The suspect ignored deputies and struck a passing vehicle with the spear, the report stated.

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. No deputies were reported as injured as a result of the shooting.

The man has been identified as Steven Burke Pettersen, 47, by the county coroner’s office.

Soledad Canyon Road was temporarily closed between Vilna Ave and Sierra Highway while the shooting was investigated.

A woman getting gas at the corner of Soledad Canyon Road and Sierra Highway said a man who appeared to be under the influence approached her vehicle in a threatening manner while waving a 3-foot long metal bar shortly after 8 p.m., down the street from her home. She was unsure what exactly was in the man’s hand.

That incident happened shortly after 8 p.m., near Soledad Canyon Road and Galeton, about three blocks east of the gas station, she said.

All media inquiries to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station were being referred to the Headquarters Bureau in downtown Los Angeles.

No details as far as an whether an arrest was made by Headquarters Bureau deputies.