A man was shot dead after jumping a fence into a sports park at around 7 p.m. Thursday, while children were playing soccer. The man, later identified as Steven Schiltz, 29, jumped over a three foot barrier onto the field, followed closely by an adult soccer player, who was reportedly trying to stop him. The shirtless man was wielding what looked like a broken wine bottle and a baseball bat.

According to Coach Jose Sanchez, he was coaching his soccer team, consisting of 13-year-old girls, when the incident occurred. Sanchez said suddenly screams filled the air, while the children tried to climb fences to escape from the man.

Suddenly Schiltz started moving toward a woman sitting on the bleachers, who he said was obviously frozen with fear. Along the way, two adult soccer players had tried to tackle the man and even tried to knock down a soccer goal in an attempt to stop him. As Schiltz got closer to the woman, two police officers reportedly opened fire, killing Schiltz.

Police had no other option than to shoot Schiltz

ABC News quotes Sanchez as saying he felt the cops were trying their best not to shoot the man, but when they finally did, it was because they had no other choice. He added that as the man headed towards the woman, he could see he was about to start swinging the baseball bat and if one more second had gone by, Schiltz would have struck the woman.

Police said they estimate there were around 200 people in the park at the time.

The coach said that while the chase was ongoing, Schiltz had headed towards his own team, along with a team comprising 11-year-old boys. He reportedly told the girls to jump over the fence and then they started grabbing the girls, helping them over.

At that moment, a police officer arrived on the scene with a gun drawn. Shortly after this, two cops yelled, telling Schiltz to “drop it,” and when he continued heading toward the woman, they opened fire, shooting him three or four times.

Schiltz has drug issues, according to his mother

The Los Angeles Times quotes Schiltz’s mother, Angela Hernandez, as saying her son had drug issues and had been been in a psychiatric ward last year.

His mother had taken out a restraining order against Schiltz in 2013, after he threatened relatives with baseball bats, pool sticks, knives and chairs. She did say she had spoken to Schiltz some hours before the incident and that he sounded fine, adding she believed police had overreacted. Hernandez said she felt police had used excessive force in the incident and that her son was good-hearted and would never hurt kids.

Orange County Sheriff’s department is investigating the incident

Reportedly Huntington Beach police confirmed that both officers involved in the incident opened fire on Schiltz and said the Orange County Sheriff’s department will investigate the incident.

According to a homeless friend of Schiltz, Tom Hester, he saw the man cycling to the park shortly before the incident. Reportedly Schiltz has also occasionally lived on the streets and had a drinking problem. Hester said when he drank, he often got violent.