Machete, knife-wielding homeless man shot dead by police outside popular Calabasas restaurant

Suspect killed by police in Calabasas

The suspect was allegedly weilding a machete when he entered the Calabasas restaurant, Sagebrush Cantina.

CALABASAS, Calif. - A machete-wielding homeless man was shot dead by police following a night of terror outside a popular restaurant in Calabasas, officials said.

None of the many customers inside the Sagebrush Cantina were hurt in the Wednesday night incident and the victim of the machete attack was not seriously injured, the Los Angeles Police Department said in social media posts.

Just after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night, LAPD officers responded to a report of an assault by someone armed with a machete outside a McDonald’s in the Woodland Hills area. LAPD officials said the preliminary investigation reveals the suspect – identified by the county Medical Examiner as Benjamin Pritchard – attacked the victim, who managed to disarm the machete-wielding assailant, but the attacker armed himself with a knife, police said.

Once officers arrived, the suspect ran away from the scene.

Machete-wielding homeless man shot dead by police

Benjamin Pritchard was identified as the machete-wielding homeless man who was shot dead by police during a confrontation at a popular Calabasas restaurant, authorities say.

The suspect led officers to Sagebrush Cantina, off Calabasas Road, which was open for business and filled with patrons. Once the suspect entered the parking lot, the LAPD said officers deployed a Taser. At that point, the suspect had a knife in one hand and a glass bottle in the other.

The Taser deployment was apparently ineffective, and a second Taser was deployed. The suspect then proceeded to the restaurant’s patio, at which point, officers opened fire. The suspect was struck by the police gunfire. He was subsequently taken to an area hospital where he was declared dead.