tucson cops shoot and kill unarmed man. Original Article Man shot by cops invaded two homes Daniel Mejia is officer involved. He didn't have a gun but was holding object that resembled one By Alexis Huicochea ARIZONA DAILY STAR The man who was shot and killed by an officer Friday night had invaded two neighboring homes, frightening a woman in her kitchen while her husband armed himself as he heard her screams. The suicidal man, a prescription-drug abuser, wrote a message in his own blood at the next home before police caught up with him, police said. He did not have a gun, but was holding an object that resembled one, police said Saturday. Randy L. Helton, 43, was shot by Tucson Police Officer Daniel Mejia after pointing an L-shaped, black wooden plate-display holder, folded in half, at police and at his own head, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a department spokesman. Robinson gave the following account: Officers were called to Helton's home in the 2800 block of North Swan Road after receiving a call about a domestic violence disturbance just after 5:40 p.m. Friday. During the investigation, police learned that Helton had assaulted his wife, Kathleen Hanin, 45, with a wooden closet rod. Hanin's son, Paul Bozeman, stepped in. Helton then assaulted Bozeman, 21, with the closet rod. When police arrived at the home, Helton was gone and Bozeman was taken to a hospital for treatment of a head injury. Helton returned to the home while police were there, but ran away and unsuccessfully attempted to get inside a neighbor's home. He went on to another home, where June and Lee Sullivan live. "He came to our door and was saying, 'My wife needs medication, I need money,' " June Sullivan said Saturday. "He was shaky and my husband told me to close the door, so I did." Lee went and got his gun, but Helton had gone around the side of their home, jumped the wall and entered the kitchen - where June was - through a back door. "I just saw him standing in the middle of the kitchen and I started screaming," she said. "He told me, 'Don't scream, I just need money.' " Lee Sullivan was outside looking for Helton when he heard his wife scream, so he ran back inside and saw Helton running out the back door, he said. Helton ran to the end of their back yard and then jumped the wall into another neighbor's yard. Police are not sure when, but Helton managed to get into another home, directly next to his, that was being renovated. No one was home at the time. There was blood all over the home from self-inflicted cuts on Helton's arms, Robinson said. In one of the bedrooms, there was a book, "The Agony and The Ecstasy," by Irving Stone. Helton had written a note on the book cover in his blood. It read: "R H KAT I (LOVE) YOU" It was in the front yard, which was surrounded by a 4-foot-wall, of that home where officers finally found Helton. He was sitting in a chair, holding the object that officers believed to be a gun, Robinson said. As police were arriving to close in on Helton, officer Mejia was driving by on his way to an off-duty job in uniform. He heard on his police radio what was going on and decided to help. Officers surrounded the outside of the walled yard. Helton was holding the display stand in his hand, like a gun, and pointing it at officers, even though they asked him to put it down, Robinson said. When Mejia saw Helton get up from the chair and begin walking toward a gate that would have allowed him to escape into an area where the public would have been in danger, he fired once, striking him in the torso, Robinson said. "Helton dropped the plate holder, but even as he was on the ground, he was trying to reach for it," Robinson said. "It was only after he was shot that we learned it was not a gun." Helton had been depressed and discussed ending his life earlier in the day, the police spokesman said. He had a history of abusing prescription medication and spent the previous night in jail on a domestic violence charge, he added. After being released from the Pima County jail Friday morning, Helton was arrested again on prescription fraud charges, but was cited and released, Robinson said. The owner of the home where the note written in blood was found said he did have a black plate holder, but was unable to find it on Saturday. Many items inside the home had been broken, and the gas stove had been turned on but the pilots were not lit. Mejia, an 11-year-veteran, has been placed on administrative leave, standard procedure in a shooting. A shooting review board has been convened to review the incident, the third fatal officer-involved shooting this year. Less-than-lethal force would not have been effective in this situation, Robinson said, because of the wall that acted as a barrier between police and Helton. "The police begged him to come out of the yard and I heard them telling him to 'drop it,' " Lee Sullivan said of the standoff between Helton and police. "They were pleading with him for maybe 10 minutes. They told him, 'We don't wanna hurt you,' and then I heard one shot." Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at 629-9412 or ahuicochea@azstarnet.com.