The independent state review follows a confrontation in which San Fernando officers fatally shot a man reportedly holding a shovel.
SAN FERNANDO, Calif. — The California Department of Justice is investigating a fatal San Fernando police shooting after officers responding to a reported assault late Monday encountered a man holding a shovel and opened fire, authorities said.
The state Justice Department announced Tuesday that its California Police Shooting Investigation Team had begun an independent investigation of the Aug. 31 shooting under Assembly Bill 1506. The agency said the shooting occurred around 11:55 p.m. and involved officers from the San Fernando Police Department.
The state investigation adds an independent review to a case in which key details about the use of deadly force remain undisclosed. San Fernando Interim Police Chief Anthony Miranda said officers had been sent to the area of Third Street and Maclay Avenue after a caller reported an assault with a deadly weapon involving a man attacking a woman with a shovel.
Police said the call came in around 11:45 p.m. Officers arrived and encountered the man with the shovel. A shooting followed. Authorities had not provided a detailed sequence of the confrontation Tuesday or disclosed what immediately prompted officers to fire.
The man received CPR after he was shot but was pronounced dead. His identity was being withheld pending notification of his family. Officials had not released his age, and the number or identities of the officers who fired had not been made public.
Police said the woman from the initial call was later being interviewed at the police station. Two other people described by police as victims of the alleged attack were also being interviewed. Authorities had not explained what happened to those two people or released details about any injuries among the three.
The state Justice Department said its review was opened under AB 1506, the California law governing state investigations of qualifying officer-involved shootings. The department cautioned that information released at the start of such investigations is preliminary and can change as investigators gather additional evidence.
Once the investigative work is completed, the case will be sent to the Justice Department’s Special Prosecutions Section within its Criminal Law Division for an independent review, according to the state agency. No conclusion has been announced about whether the officers’ use of deadly force was legally justified.
The review is expected to focus on evidence surrounding the shooting, but authorities had not announced Tuesday what recordings or physical evidence had been collected. No body-camera footage or other video of the encounter had been publicly released in the reports available Tuesday.
Miranda said the events leading to the shooting remained under investigation. The state Justice Department’s inquiry was also ongoing Tuesday, with the man’s identity, the condition of the people police described as victims and the precise circumstances that led officers to fire still unresolved.
Author note: Last updated September 1, 2026.