Police execute two aafter trapping them in shed

Men wielded yard tools before police took them down

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TORRANCE — An Adelanto man and his burglary accomplice were armed with “sharp yard tools” when they were shot to death by police during a confrontation, investigators said.

Reputed gang members Shaun McCoy, 22, of Adelanto and Charlie Wilson, 20, of Gardena were clutching garden tools and moving aggressively toward officers after the suspects were discovered in a shed Saturday, Lt. Rod Irvine said.

The men went into the shed during a four-hour manhunt for the burglary suspects. Two officers closed in when a police dog alerted officers there was someone inside.

“Officers began yelling for anyone inside to step out and give themselves up,” Irvine said. “Officers gave numerous commands from outside the shed, but they heard no responses from within.”

Officers then opened the shed’s door.

“They were immediately confronted by both Wilson and McCoy, who had armed themselves with sharp yard tools,” Irvine said. “The suspects moved aggressively toward the officers with the weapons in hand and the officers, in fear for their lives, fired multiple shots and stopped the suspects.”

Irvine wouldn’t describe the tools.

Police positively identified Wilson and McCoy as suspects in a home burglary.

The search that led to Saturday’s shooting began at about 10:30 a.m. when a neighbor called police to report that two suspicious men had hopped over a gate and entered the backyard of a home.