The O.C. Register reports on the death of a man who was shot by officer(s) this morning in the City of Dana Point, CA after they responded to a domestic disturbance call. They were reportedly confronted by the man with a knife as he was attempting to break into the residence.

[Click here for story]

The report in the newspaper provides few details on the circumstances of the incident, but the obvious is that a call for service resulted in the use of deadly force by O.C. Sheriff's Department personnel. There are no reports of injuries to others and none to the OCSD personnel.

What seemed routine one June morning in Dana Point, CA had the potential to harm the officer and others, as well. The FBI tracks incidents where law enforcement officers are killed in the line of duty in order to inform and train others on the circumstances involved in past line-of-duty deaths.

In the ten year time period of 1995-2004 there were 594 police officers killed. Today's incident has many risk factors for the law enforcement responders. For example:

Month of Incident: 42 officers were killed in the month of June (7%).
Day of Incident: 75 officers were killed on a Monday (13%).
Time of Incident: 26 officers were killed during the time period of 4AM - 6AM (4%).
Weapon Used: 7 officers were killed with a knife or other cutting instrument (1%).
Circumstance of Incident: 60 officers were killed during a family quarrel (10%).

[Click here for FBI report]

Police work is an occupation with the potential for life-threatening danger every minute of the shift. Nothing is ever routine. Nothing is taken for granted. Today's incident was no different.

As always in a serious incident like this, the O.C. District Attorney's Office conducts the investigation in order to remove any conflict or appearance of an unfair investigation. Law enforcement services in the City are provided under contract with the O.C. Sheriff's Department.

Briefing is over. Stay safe out there!