Cops Shoot Man with Cleaver Near Sikh Temple

Police in Ohio say they shot and killed a man who approached them with a meat cleaver at a Sikh temple.

A Bedford police officer was flagged down before dawn Thursday by two men at the temple in suburban Cleveland and was told a man was inside with a meat cleaver.

Officers entered, and police say the man approached them and was shot when he kept moving toward them. Police identified the man as 41-year-old Ravinder Nijjar of Bedford.

Police say he was a member of the temple but had no religious motivation for his threatening behavior.

Members of the temple told CBS News Affiliate WOIO-TV in Cleveland that the man chased two priests with the meat cleaver.

(Scroll down to watch a report from CBS News Affiliate WOIO-TV)

In its reporting WOIO-TV identified the man as Ravinder Najjar.

"The officer yelled, 'Stop, drop the knife, drop the knife,'" Bedford Police Chief Greg Duber told WOIO-TV. "The individual kept coming toward him and he shot him."

A total of five shots were fired, three of which hit Najjar, WOIO-TV reports. Najjar was pronounced dead at 5:10 a.m. at Bedford Medical Center, WOIO-TV reports.

The officer was placed on the standard three-day administrative leave, WOIO-TV reports.

"It happened in a place of worship," temple member Baltek Singh told WOIO-TV. "It is even disturbing for anyone or everyone."

WOIO-TV reports that Najjar has a police record, which mostly involves incidents involving intoxication, fighting and acting strangely.