Sword man shot dead after killing co-workers

US POLICE shot and killed a sword-wielding man described

About 40 to 50 shoppers ran from the store in Irvine, California, as police went in to subdue Joseph Hunter Parker, who was armed with a samurai-style sword and wearing a beret and trenchcoat, said police commander Jeff Noble.

The 30-year-old man confronted an officer before fellow officers shot him, said Lieutenant Jeff Love. Parker was taken to the hospital but did not survive. One of the wounded people was an employee at the supermarket and two others were customers, police said. Police did not release the names of the dead or wounded.

Parker had been diagnosed as schizophrenic, said his mother, Susan Davis, adding she had not spoken to him in about a year. “He was not in a good state at all. He said voices were telling him to do bad things.”

She said Parker, who moved to California about five years ago, collected swords and was a fan of the Highlander film and television series in which the hero is a swordsman.