Bentley-driving, sword-wielding man killed by police officers in Scientology org

This story is getting stranger by the minute. We just saw Dave Lopez reporting for KCBS Channel 2, who said that the sword-wielding man who was shot dead by police officers today at the Inglewood Scientology org had arrived in a white Bentley.

A white Bentley?

Naturally, when we first heard about the incident earlier this evening, we flashed back to the bizarre scene in November 2008 when Mario Majorski, 48, a disturbed man with a history in the Church of Scientology, showed up at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre wielding two samurai swords. When he moved to attack people at the facility, a security guard fired a single shot that killed Majorski.

Now, more than 10 years later, a man described as Asian and wearing a hoodie arrived in a white Bentley at the Scientology org in Inglewood, and was carrying a sword. Lopez also used the description “samurai” sword, but we haven’t confirmed that. Two police officers responded to the scene and shot the man in the head, and he died later on the way to the hospital.

What Lopez says is unclear is how the two police officers ended up with gunshot wounds, one to the hand and the other to the arm, when the dead suspect reportedly only carried a sword. Did the officers injure each other in crossfire?

Lopez said he checked with the org, and was told the security guard there was not armed, and could not have been the source of the gunshot wounds.

So, a lot of questions at this hour, chief among them who the man with the sword was, and what connection he had to the Inglewood org. We’re relieved to hear that apparently no one at the facility was injured.

We’ll add more info as soon as we can.

UPDATE 1, 9:36 pm Eastern: A person we’ve been talking to who just recently left a position working at the Inglewood org points out to us that the room where people are regged (pressured to spend money) has a real sword hanging on the wall. This person says police should be asking if the assailant arrived with the sword or grabbed the one on the wall. Our source says that registrars were instructed to touch the sword “for good luck when calling the bank trying to get approved for loans and credit.”

UPDATE 2, 10:11 pm: KTLA Channel 5 has added this paragraph to their story of the incident:

A woman read text messages from her friend who was inside the church at the time of the shooting. The witness described the suspect as a “weird guy” who was “acting crazy.”

UPDATE: Scientology’s Karin Pouw offers a statement:

“We thank the Inglewood Police Department for their rapid response in protecting our parishioners and staff members. These officers are doing a heroic job protecting the community and keeping houses of worship safe against hate crimes. We have offered our full support to the authorities who are investigating this incident.”

UPDATE: What’s taking the authorities so long to release the identity of the assailant, who died more than ten hours ago? We’re starting to have uncomfortable flashbacks to our time reporting in Los Angeles, when we had to deal with the arrogance of the LAPD. We had grown used to getting incident reports fairly quickly from other law enforcement agencies, but when we moved to LA (where we were originally from) in 1999 to work for New Times Los Angeles, we learned pretty quickly that the LAPD didn’t give out incident reports, they gave out press releases, and only on cases they chose to talk about. Is the Inglewood PD similarly slow to release information? With the whiff here that a couple of police officers might have injured each other, we have a feeling the Inglewood PD is going to be very slow giving out information.

Also, we notice that the Daily Beast for some reason brought up L. Ron Hubbard’s 1940s manuscript “Excalibur” and is trying to make some kind of point about swords and Scientology. And we see that at least one other outlet is now picking up that idea. This is not really a thing in Scientology. Stop trying to make this into one. Scientology has a naval thing going on, it’s a paramilitary organization, yes it might have some swords on the wall or used in Sea Org ceremonies, but that’s just faux military playacting. There isn’t some deep reason connected to Hubbard as to why a disturbed man like Majorski would have showed up at the Celebrity Centre with samurai swords, other than that he was out of his mind.

Come on, Inglewood PD, give us a name. And why was the guy driving a Bentley that didn’t appear to have a license plate? This shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.

As Eivol pointed out, the Bentley had a brand decal rather than a license plate on the back…

 
UPDATE: We notice that some news organizations are confused about where this shooting took place. In 2011, Scientology opened both an Ideal Org (at 315 South Market Street) and a Community Center (at 8039 South Vermont) in Inglewood. At least one news org has put up a photo of the community center, but the shooting took place at the Ideal Org on South Market. Here are photos of both.

The Ideal Org, where the shooting took place…

 
And the community center, where it did not…

 
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HowdyCon 2019 in Los Angeles

This year’s HowdyCon is in Los Angeles. People tend to come in starting on Thursday, and that evening we will have a casual get-together at a watering hole. We have something in mind, but for now we’re not giving out information about it.

Friday night we will be having an event in a theater (like we did on Saturday night last year in Chicago). There will not be a charge to attend this event, but if you want to attend, you need to RSVP with your proprietor at tonyo94 AT gmail.

On Saturday, we are joining forces with Janis Gillham Grady, who is having a reunion in honor of the late Bill Franks. Originally, we thought this event might take place in Riverside, but instead it’s in the Los Angeles area. If you wish to attend the reunion, you will need to RSVP with Janis (janisgrady AT gmail), and there will be a small contribution she’s asking for in order to help cover her costs.

HOTEL: Janis tells us she’s worked out a deal with Hampton Inn and Suites, at 7501 North Glenoaks Blvd, Burbank, (818) 768-1106. We have a $159 nightly rate for June 19 to 22.

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!

Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology’s secret vaults get their star turn on the new TV network, and it’s nutty!
[TWO years ago] Reza Aslan’s ‘Believer’ episode about indie Scientology lived down to all expectations
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s European mouthpiece speaks at DC event honoring Marco Rubio
[FOUR years ago] ‘Going Clear’: Spanky Taylor on John Travolta, Priscilla Presley, and escaping Scientology
[FIVE years ago] Belgium will try two Scientology organizations and 10 Scientologists for fraud
[SIX years ago] LEAKED AUDIO: David Miscavige Declares Scientology’s Golden Age at LRH Birthday Event
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Concentration Camp: Where Can Miscavige Put “The Hole” Now?

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 27, 2019 at 21:15

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