Social Network

A man in his 40s has been shot and killed by security guards at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Los Angeles after threatening them with samurai swords. According to police the man approached three guards in the parking lot wielding two Samuri swords. He was apparently close enough to hurt the guards, so one of them shot him out of necessity. Police looked at surveillance tapes and came to the conclusion that the shooting was justified.

“The evidence itself, it’s very, very clear,” Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Terry S. Hara said. “The security officers were defending their safety.”

Based on the description given by police, the man showed up at the Scientology center in a red convertible around twelve noon and approached the guards with a sword in each hand. One of the guards then shot him, and he was pronounced dead at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center some time later. He apparently had a history of issues with the church, though the details of these issues have not been released.