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Highlander hits supermarket
30/06/2003 15:55 - (SA)
California - Police shot and killed a sword-wielding man described by relatives as schizophrenic after he slashed and killed two former co-workers and wounded three other people at a supermarket where he used to bag groceries.
About 40 to 50 shoppers ran from the store on Sunday morning 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 Lt Jeff Love. Parker was taken to the hospital and did not survive. One of the wounded was an Albertsons employee and two others were customers, police said. Police did not release the names of the dead or wounded.
Parker had been diagnosed as schizophrenic, his mother, Susan Davis, said in an interview on Sunday from rural Ford, Virginia. He also was a volunteer fire-fighter and emergency medical technician.
"He was not in a good state at all," Davis said, adding she had not spoken to Parker in about a year. "He said voices were telling him to do bad things."
Davis 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.
"I'm just sorry about what happened," Davis said.
Parker's former co-workers said he quit his job bagging groceries about two weeks ago after working at Albertsons for about two years.
"I never felt threatened, but he was just a really odd man," said co-worker Mark Ming, 26. "He would have full conversations with himself. He obviously had problems, but he was respectful toward customers."
Parker's sister, Heather Parker, 28, of Anaheim, said she hasn't spoken to her brother in several months.
"He was alone and he was very mistreated his whole life," she said in a telephone interview. "He was being treated for schizophrenia. He's never been in trouble. He didn't drink, didn't use drugs. He was kind."
Love called the attacks an aberration in the quiet city 65km southeast of Los Angeles, which he said averages less than one murder a year. About 143 000 people live here.
- SAPA
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