Suicide by cop suspect gets mental evaluation

A Huntington Beach man was hospitalized Wednesday, a day after police say he tried to commit suicide by cop when he fired at them with a replica handgun.

Officers heard 40-year-old Sean Lake yell “Shoot me!” Tuesday afternoon as he shot at them with a wrist-rocket slingshot, damaging one of their windshields, and with Airsoft BBs from his replica handgun while parked in the corner of the Emulex corporation parking lot, 3333 Susan St., Costa Mesa, police said.

“You point that at a cop, that’s inviting lethal force by us,” Costa Mesa Lt. Clay Epperson said. “The officers used tremendous restraint, manifested good training and saved the guy from suicide by cop.”

Police said they were called at about 3 p.m. when Lake began shooting metal ball bearings at one of the business’ security guards with his wrist rocket slingshot. Two windshields in the parking lot were shattered but the security guard was not hit, Epperson said.

“It’s like a .22-caliber ball bearing, if it hit you with any kind of velocity it can be injurious,” Epperson said.

With Lake, believed to be a transient, parked in a corner of the parking lot, police opted for non-lethal, foam ammunition to subdue Lake. One of the shots injured his hand, police said.

“While he was willing to die, he wasn’t willing to accept the less lethal rounds,” Epperson said. “We think he had health issues that may have impacted his decision making out there.”

Lake was taken for a mental evaluation at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana and will be booked into Orange County Jail within the next day, police said.

Officers found the slingshot, the replica handgun and a replica sub-machine gun among other items in Lake’s car. He was booked on suspicion of more than half a dozen charges including assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer, vandalism and possession of a controlled substance.