Man Shot After Threat, Police Say

Fountain Valley police shot and killed a man early Friday when he attacked them with a knife while they were helping a woman with medical problems in a parking lot, authorities said.

The man, identified as Eric J. Miller, 34, of Huntington Beach, was pronounced dead shortly after the 3:15 a.m. shooting in front of a fast-food restaurant at Brookhurst Street and Talbert Avenue, police said.

Officers and paramedics were in the parking lot aiding a woman who had called for help after she blacked out and became disoriented, said Fountain Valley police Sgt. Kevin Thomas.

About 30 minutes after the officers and paramedics arrived, he said, Miller drove into the lot and approached the officers. “He had a knife in his hand, and he told the officers that he was going to kill them,” Thomas said.

Officers ordered Miller to drop the weapon but he lunged at them, prompting the officers to shoot, Thomas said.

The knife was recovered, he said.

A Care Ambulance employee, who was not identified, suffered minor injuries in the incident and was treated at a hospital and released.

It was unknown how many shots were fired or how many officers fired their weapons, Thomas said.

The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating, a standard procedure in all officer-involved shootings.