CHP Trooper Shoots, Kills Machete-Wielding Attacker

A Hoopa, Calif., teenager used a machete to violently attack a California Highway Patrol officer, who responded by fatally shooting the 17-year-old, CHP and Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office officials said during a Friday press conference.

The CHP Willow Creek resident officer, currently in stable condition at a Davis hospital with major injuries, had responded to a single-car accident on Highway 299 at Blue Jay Lane in the Willow Creek area around 1:35 a.m. Thursday, where he made contact with the teenager, who had hit a telephone pole, California Highway Patrol Capt. Adam Jager said.

“They walked back together to the back of (the driver’s) car and there was a sudden, violent attack,” Jager said. “Unexpectedly, he pulled out a machete.”

At the press conference in the Humboldt County Courthouse, Jager held out a machete of the same size and style that the teen allegedly used against the officer.

Jager said the officer put up his left arm to block the attack, at first mistaking the machete for a collapsible baton. The machete struck his left arm, hand and face, Jager told Eureka Times-Standard .

The officer then fired his gun, Jager said. Neither the number of shots fired nor where the teen was wounded are being released at this time.

“The officer was able to miraculously maintain his balance, retreat around his patrol car, got into his patrol car, locked the doors, and called for help,” Jager said. “Apparently, the driver got back into his car and was honking his horn.”