November 24, 2008: Fifteen years ago today, former Scientologist Mario Majorski, 48, drove a rented Corvette down from his home in Florence, Oregon to Los Feliz, California where the Scientology Celebrity Centre is located.

As he pulled up into the driveway of the Scientology Celebrity in his Corvette at noonday, Majorski jumped out of the Corvette and brandished two Samurai swords. According to reports, Majorski charged the three security guards who were on duty.

A retired 64 year old Seal Beach police officer was working as one of the an armed security guards at the Celebrity Centre. This security guard fired his service weapon once at close range. The bullet tore into Majorski’s chest and killed him.

Excerpts from the LA Times 2008 reporting on Majorski’s death:

When he was a UCLA student 15 years ago, Mario Majorski was a committed enough Scientologist that he helped file a federal lawsuit against a professor who called the church a cult.

On Sunday, Majorski stormed the church’s Celebrity Centre in Hollywood with a sword in each hand. He was shot dead by a security guard who police say had every reason to fear for his life and the lives of hundreds of others gathered on the property.

The reasons for Majorski’s transformation from fervent believer to attacker remained a mystery Monday…

Majorski was a church member in good standing in 1993 when he and a classmate sued a psychiatry professor and UCLA.

The professor, Louis West, was an expert on brainwashing and an outspoken critic of Scientology, which he dismissed as a “pyramid scheme.”

Suits filed in state and federal court accused West of activities, including speaking to anti-cult groups, that transgressed the separation of church and state and interfered with Majorski’s practice of religion.

Both suits were dismissed, and court records indicate that Majorski’s role was largely limited to providing his name as a plaintiff.

NBC reporting in which former Scientology spokesperson Tommy Davis makes claims which were never publicly documented:

Majorski had threatened the church in a string of incidents dating to at least 2005 that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department, the FBI and Oregon authorities, said Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis. The threats were allegedly made through faxes and telephone calls but police could not immediately confirm how many were made.

“He was clearly disturbed,” Davis said. “It’s just a tragic incident. Our condolences go out to his family or friends.”

Majorski had been a Scientologist in the early 1990s but appeared to have left the church about 15 years ago, Davis said.

The shooting will be reviewed by the district attorney’s office but police were treating the killing as justifiable.

“The security guard had to take action to prevent the deceased from killing or maiming people on the premises,” Los Angeles police Detective Wendi Berndt said.

Security surveillance tape showed Majorski arrived around noon in a red convertible, then approached the guards with a sword in each hand before he was shot, Berndt said. She said the tape would not be released to the public because it was too graphic. No other weapons were found in the car, which Berndt said she thought was a rental.

Majorski was pronounced dead at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

From KPIC reporting at the time:

Oregon DMV records show Majorski with a Florence, Ore., home address. Lane County court records show Majorski twice convicted for stalking; one of his victims was a circuit court judge.

Majorski was charged with unlawful use of a weapon after trying to smuggle a railroad spike through a courtroom metal detector. The charge was later dismissed.

Majorski had a bad history with Scientology after he left the Cult. Some said that Scientology had driven him to insanity in the weeks leading up to his death. A series of phone calls between Majorski and Scientology had transpired. Because Mario was shot and killed by CC Security, we only have Scientology’s side of the story.

The retired police officer was cleared in the case as he had acted with lethal force to rightly and legally defend himself, Scientology’s parishioners, and the general public in the vicinity of Majorski.

The motives for Majorski’s actions will never be known.

Some speculated at the time that Majorski’s death was a form of was suicide by cop after he had been pushed to insanity by Scientology. No one, except Scientology, knows what went on between Majorski and the Church that culminated in his death.

The history of Scientology is filled with strange deaths and suicides.

The lawsuit in which Mario Majorski was involved when he was a Scientologist. We have only the parties involved at present and are looking for the actual complaint. A note to RJ:  If you want to see an old Scientology program in action go to this thread. You will never figure it out.