US police officer kills Marine in front of his children in California

Police in the US state of California have shot dead an unarmed Marine in a high school parking-lot in front of his two children.

Sergeant Manuel Loggins was shot inside his vehicle in the parking lot of San Clemente high school as he was returning home with his 9- and 14-year-old daughters last Tuesday morning.

Orange County police officials said Friday that an officer tried to pull over Loggins at about 4:30 a.m. as he sped through the parking lot’s gate. The officials say Loggins ignored the deputy officer’s orders and yelled at him that prompted the officer to grow concerned about the safety of the children in the car.

“They were irrational statements that made the deputy be concerned for the safety of the children,” Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County sheriff’s department said.

However, authorities had previously claimed that the deputy feared for his life when he shot Loggins.

The incident comes a week after police shot to death an unarmed teenager in his grandmother’s apartment in New York. Police say the 18-year-old was attempting to flush a bag of marijuana down the toilet. The boy was unarmed and the police did not have a warrant to enter the home.