By Edward Ortiz and Charles Piller
eortiz@sacbee.com
A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy fatally shot a pitchfork-wielding man Monday afternoon in North Highlands.
Deputies responded to a 2 p.m. call from a woman, who alleged that an argument had taken place with the victim in her yard in the 6800 block of Weddigen Way in North Highlands. She said the victim had assaulted of one of the home's occupants, said Sacramento Sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.
When deputies arrived, the man had returned to his home. As officers knocked on his front door, he allegedly appeared from behind a garage door with a pitchfork in his hand, Ramos said.
"The victim began advancing very aggressively toward the officers," Ramos said, and they ordered him to "stop and drop the pitchfork."
"While backing away from the subject in an attempt to create a safe distance between them," a female deputy "lost her footing and fell to the ground," Ramos said.
When the subject continued to advance," the other deputy - a male officer and 16-year veteran of the department - shot him several times in the upper body, Ramos said. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene, despite life-saving efforts by the deputies. Neither the names of the deputies or the shooting victim have been released.
The deputy who fired the fatal shots will be placed on administrative leave during an investigation by the Sheriff's Department.
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