Police killings
2013-2020

Steven Burke Pettersen

Male, White

Date of the incident: 1/30/2014

Santa Clarita, Los Angeles, CA
Soledad Canyon Road and Sierra Highway

Police received a call that a man with a spear, Pettersen, was running wildly in and out of freeway traffic. Police first shot Pettersen after he struck a car with the "spear." Pettersen then approached them with a knife and police shot and killed him. Petersen, a veteran diagnosed with PTSD, was in his underwear and the "spear" turned out to be a hockey stick. In May 2014, Pettersen's son filed a civil rights lawsuit against Los Angeles County.