Sex attacker was ready to kill abducted teenagers, says sheriff

A CALIFORNIA police chief yesterday said a sex attacker who kidnapped and raped two teenage girls was minutes away from killing his victims when he was shot dead by sheriff's deputies.

The girls, aged 16 and 17, who were abducted at gunpoint from a lovers’ lane on Thursday night, were rescued 100 miles away after the kidnapper crashed his getaway car and was shot by police.

Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks said he was certain the attacker was just minutes away from killing the girls and had chosen a remote location in the high desert. He said the girls had been raped.