Shooting shatters the peacefulness of Aussie model’s ‘sacred place’
The Malibu beach home Australian model Miranda Kerr says she loves because it is a ‘‘sacred place’’ where she can raise her young son in tranquillity has become the scene of a life-and-death struggle between a knife-wielding intruder and an armed security guard.
The intruder, who is believed to be homeless, was shot in the head during the altercation yesterday. The security guard was stabbed in an eye and suffered cuts to his arms.
A neighbour and several workmen saw the fight from an adjoining property and launched into action, with one of the men scaling Kerr’s large front fence to help the injured security guard.
‘‘The man, after he was shot, still held the knife and was going after the security man, so my guy kicked the knife out of the perpetrator’s hands,’’ the neighbour, who only gave his name as Jerry, told Los Angeles TV station CBS2.
Kerr and her 5-year-old son Flynn were not home at the time.
Sergeant James Braden, of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department, said deputies were called to the ranch-style home after receiving a call that there was a fight involving a person with a gun.
‘‘When the deputies arrived at the residence, they found an armed security guard was involved in a physical altercation with an intruder,’’ Braden said.
‘‘During the physical altercation, the intruder stabbed the armed security guard, and the armed security guard shot the intruder.’’
Kerr, 33, bought the fourbedroom 1960s home for US$2.15 million following her divorce from British actor and Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom.
Bloom, who is in a relationship with pop star Katy Perry, also has a home in Malibu, and he and Kerr wanted to be close to each other so they could raise Flynn together.
Kerr, who recently became engaged to Snapchat billionaire Evan Spiegel, has been spending time at the internet mogul’s home in the elite LA suburb of Brentwood.
In interviews, Kerr has raved about the Malibu home, which has a vegetable garden and views of the Pacific Ocean.
In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she said she fell for the house ‘‘at first sight’’.
‘‘I could just see the potential. felt so right,’’ she said.
‘‘In some ways, it feels like a treehouse. That was another thing that I loved.’’ It