A 57-year-old Menifee man who allegedly confronted police officers while armed outside his home, threatening to kill himself, was fatally shot by the policemen, authorities said Thursday.

Dennis Martz died in the officer-involved shooting shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday in the 27000 block of Freedom Lane, near Ensemble Drive, according to the Menifee Police Department.

Agency spokesman Chase Coburn said officers were sent to the location after neighbors reported that the property owner was in his backyard with firearms, “threatening suicide.”

After reaching the single-story residence, patrolmen “attempted to communicate with Martz but were unsuccessful,” Coburn said.

He said a crisis negotiator was summoned and also tried to talk the distraught man into surrendering peacefully, but “Mar

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