California officer kills teen after machete attack

By The Associated Press

Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014 | 3:03 p.m.

WILLOW CREEK, Calif. — A California Highway Patrol officer shot and killed a 17-year-old who attacked him with a machete, and the officer was hospitalized with major injuries, officials said.

The officer had responded to a report of a car hitting a telephone pole Thursday in the Humboldt County community of Willow Creek, CHP Capt. Adam Jager told the Eureka Times-Standard.

The officer and the boy stepped to the rear of the damaged car when the teen attacked the officer, Jager said. The officer raised his left arm to defend himself, Jager said, and also was struck on the hand and face.

Jager said the officer shot the teen an undisclosed number of times before locking himself in his patrol car and calling for backup. The teenager returned to his car and was honking the horn, Jager said.

Another officer arrived about 10 minutes later and found the teen lying naked next to his car, Jager said. The boy did not respond to the officer's commands, and the officer used a stun gun to place the teen in handcuffs. Jager described the teen as "completely erratic and irrational."

Paramedics treated the boy, who died at the scene. Officials said they had no history with the teen and the motive for the attack was unclear.

Officials did not immediately release the name of the teen or the officer, who was in stable condition. He has been on the job for two years and recently transferred from the San Francisco Bay Area to Humboldt County, about 100 miles south of the Oregon state line.

Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District Superintendent Jon Ray told the newspaper that several area schools closed Friday in light of the incident.

"It has a large impact, especially with students and kids, when they know somebody and know them very well and see them every day at school," Ray said. "It is hard to get through something like that."