Machete-wielding man killed by Sacramento County deputy

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a man Wednesday who came at him with a machete, authorities said.

Deputies were sent to a home in unincorporated south Sacramento shortly after 8:30 a.m. after a woman called to report that her husband was suicidal and was holding a machete, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

The caller said her husband didn’t have any history of violence or any mental health conditions.

An arriving deputy contacted the wife, who was standing in her front yard, when her husband appeared on the front porch, holding a 24-inch machete, the Sheriff’s Office said.

He came towards the deputy and his wife. The deputy pushed the woman out of harm’s way and ordered the man to drop the raised machete, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The deputy found himself backed up to a fence and as the man continued to advance and ignore commands, he opened fire, hitting the man several times, authorities said.

The man was pronounced dead at a hospital. His name wasn’t immediately released.

The man’s wife and the deputy, a four-year veteran of the department, weren’t hurt.

The shooting is under investigation.