Friday, March 10, 2017 | 9:01 a.m.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — A man who reportedly chased children around a crowded Southern California sports complex and made a move toward a parent was shot and killed by two police officers.
Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy said there were reports that the man was holding a bat and broken bottle before he was shot Thursday night, The Orange County Register reported.
The man was identified by the coroner's office as Steven Schiltz, 29, of Huntington Beach.
His mother, Angela Hernandez, told KCBS-TV that she had struggled with her son's drug abuse issues.
"He was recently last year in a psych ward and I tried then to try to get him help," she said. Hernandez said she urged him to get help.
Jose Sanchez, who was coaching two groups of children, said he saw the man chasing people around 7:30 p.m.
"A cop shows up and tells him to drop whatever you are holding or you'll get shot, you need to drop it. He doesn't comply," Sanchez told KABC-TV.
The shooting occurred when the man ran up into bleachers.
"And one of our parents is standing there in the bleachers," Sanchez said. "She's frozen. She couldn't even move. So it looked like the guy was gonna go and do something to her. So that's when the cop shot him about three times. He was still moving around so they shot him about three or four more times."
No one else was hurt.
The police chief said there were about 200 people present at the 45-acre park, which has eight softball fields and seven soccer fields as well as batting cages and playgrounds.
