Published: Sunday August 30, 2009 MYT 12:09:00 PM
Former US Olympic medalist Laut fatally shot
OXNARD, California (AP) - David Laut, who won a bronze medal for the United States in the shot put at the 1984 Olympics, was shot to death after confronting intruders outside his California home, authorities said on Saturday. He was 52.
Laut was gunned down early Friday when he went outside to check on a noise in the yard, Oxnard Police Sgt. Ken Klopman said. Police on Saturday hadn't made any arrests or identified suspects.
Laut also won a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games.
He was favored to win the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics after throwing 21.59 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials. He won the bronze instead with a mark of 20.97 on his final attempt at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
In 1985, he was ranked the No. 7 shot-putter in the world and the No. 1 American.
But his career nearly ended the following year when he tore tendons in both knees during an agility test to become a fireman.
Laut's effort to make the 1988 U.S. Olympic team fell short at the Olympic trials. He worked out every day in the garage of his small stucco home in Ventura County, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.
Carter Laurie, Laut's neighbor, said his wife heard three shots at about midnight on Friday, but the couple dismissed the sound as firecrackers until police arrived.
Officers found Laut lying dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the head in his side yard, authorities said.
An emergency call had come from the home where Laut lived with Jane Laut, his wife of 29 years, and their 10-year-old son Michael.
"It was an honor to know him," Laurie told the Times. "He was a local boy who did well and came back to share his talents with the community."
Laut was a track coach for eight years, then athletic director for a year, at Hueneme High School in Oxnard.
He had spent much of the day before he was killed helping student-athletes arrange physicals for the upcoming school year. "He was a gentle giant, compassionate and student-focused," said the school's principal, Adrian Palazuelos. "And he was a competitor like no other."
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