Huntington Beach Police Kill Homeless Man At Kids Soccer Practice
HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Huntington police shot and killed a homeless man during a kids soccer practice Thursday as dozens of players and parents watched in horror.
The incident unfolded at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex at 18100 Golden West Street around 7:30 p.m.
Kids and parents said the man was charging at them with a stick in one hand and a broken bottle in the other.
Two soccer players told CBS's Stacey Butler that they were terrified when the man seemed to be charging at them.
"Our team like we were all toward the fence grabbing each other. All of a sudden, we just hear the guy holding a bottle. Our coach screams at us to jump over the fence. He tried to climb the bleachers. But we just heard three gunshots, and he got shot," Miguel Carias recalled.
"I felt like he was after me. He was running towards us when we were jumping the fence," another player said. "But we jumped over the fence before he got near us."
"The first thing I thought was I've got to get my kids out of here. I yelled at my coaches to get everyone out. They tried to knock the goal over him so they could trap him," a father said.
After the kids jumped over the fence, the suspect then went after one of the moms sitting on the bleachers. That was when witnesses said police shot and killed the 29-year-old man.
His mother told Butler that she tried to get him help.
"He was recently last year in a psy ward. I tried then to try and get him help and keep telling him let's get help. What they tell me that he has to want the help. But I'm thinking well what can I do when he's mentally unstable. As an adult child because he's 29 years old, what am I supposed to do?" Angela Hernandez asked.
