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Man Killed In Paradise Hills Officer-Involved Shooting
March 20, 2009Police: Man Had Apparently Stabbed Wife To Death, Stabbed K-9
SAN DIEGO -- A man who apparently had just stabbed his wife to death in their Paradise Hills home was fatally shot by police Friday when he charged them with a knife and slashed a service dog, authorities reported.
San Diego police got an emergency call about 8:45 a.m. from a woman who said her husband was threatening to kill himself with a knife at the house in the 6400 block of Lockford Avenue. SDPD Lt. Terry McManus said.
"Shortly after her call to police, the line was disconnected, and communications personnel were unable to re-establish contact with the reporting party," he said.
Officers arrived to see a man, later identified as 51-year-old Willard Anthony Bradley, inside the residence, looking out a front window and holding a knife in his hand, according to McManus.
When police reached the front door, Bradley shouted that he had killed his wife and would do the same to them, the lieutenant said.
The officers then "formulated a plan" to get inside, McManus said. Several of them went around to the rear of the home and broke windows as a distraction, and when Bradley went to see what was happening, other officers went in through the front door with a service dog.
Moments later, the man charged toward their location inside the entryway, and they sicced the German shepherd on him, McManus said.
Bradley "immediately" stabbed the dog, and then turned toward the officers, prompting two of them to open fire, the lieutenant said.
A neighbor told 10News he heard repeated shouts of "drop the knife" before four to six shots rang out.
Bradley died at the scene. Police found his wife dead of apparent stab wounds in a back bedroom.
The service dog was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment of a serious neck wound, SDPD Capt. Jim Collins said. The animal received a blood transfusion and was expected to survive.
Authorities withheld the name of the deceased woman pending notification of her next-of-kin.
According to 10News reporter Joe Little, the couple have an 8-year-old child who was at school at the time of the incident. They also have 3 other older children from previous relationships that were also at school at the time.
The identities of the patrol officers who fired on Bradley also were not immediately released.
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