Arizona police fatally shoot man charging at them with sword
May. 11, 2015 7:04 PM EDT
KEARNY, Ariz. (AP) — Pinal County authorities say a Kearny man has been fatally shot after charging at police officers with a Samurai sword.
County Sheriff's officials on Monday identified the man as 35-year-old Shaun Johnson.
Kearny police say they received a 911 call from Johnson's wife after 11 p.m. Friday.
She says her husband had been asked to leave a bar earlier for causing a disturbance.
The 911 dispatcher reported hearing yelling and screaming in the background of the call from Johnson home.
As two police officers approached the house, they say Johnson came out swinging a sword that he refused to put down.
Police say an officer who was about six feet away from Johnson feared for his safety and fired four shots at Johnson. He was declared dead at the scene.
The shooting came nine months after a similar incident in Utah. Darrien Hunt was shot and killed by police Sept. 10 as he walked around a strip mall in the city of Saratoga Springs wearing a red shirt and blue pants similar to an anime character and a 2 ½ foot steel sword. Police said they were responding to a 911 call about a man with a sword when he lunged at them, swinging the weapon.
