Valley College Guard Shoots Man on Campus

A man who threatened to hurl a 3-foot concrete stand at a security guard was shot and wounded on the campus of Los Angeles Valley College early Monday, sheriff’s investigators said.

The unidentified man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition. The guard who shot him was part of a sheriff’s civilian detail contracted to guard the college.

Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Hartshorne said detectives are trying to determine the man’s identity and what he was doing on campus. They did not release the guard’s name or that of a second guard who came to his aid.

About 5:15 a.m., the man began throwing bricks at the guard outside the security detail’s bungalow on the Valley Glen campus, Hartshorne said.

The security guard was able to dodge the bricks, Hartshorne said. The second security officer fired a Taser gun at the man, but it didn’t stop him, the lieutenant said.

The man grabbed a large concrete stand used as an outdoor ashtray and held it above his shoulders as if to throw it at the officers, Hartshorne said. The first officer fired his gun several times, striking the man at least once, Hartshorne said.

Deputy Steve Suzuki said the officer told investigators he fired because he feared for his own safety and that of the other guard.

The security officers, who are members of the Sheriff’s Community College District Bureau, are armed, civilian employees who guard campuses throughout the Los Angeles Community College District.