Two Suspects Dead, Three Arrested After San Diego Cop Killed In Apartment Shootout – With Video
Oct 28, 2010 1 Comment ›› Pat Dollard
A San Diego police officer was killed late Wednesday during a shootout in the Skyline neighborhood in which two other people also were killed and three arrested, police said Thursday.
The incident began when a U.S. marshal and county probation officers, accompanied by San Diego police, went to an apartment building to serve a warrant for probation violation.
In an exchange of gunfire inside the apartment, a San Diego police officer was killed and a police dog wounded.
Police had recognized a person inside the apartment as a suspect in a case of assault with a deadly weapon, according to San Diego Acting Assistant Police Chief Jim Collins.
A SWAT team was assembled, and hours later, using tear gas and a flash-bang grenade, officers stormed the apartment, exchanging gunfire with the people inside, officials said.
Once inside, police found a man and woman in a back bedroom, both dead. It was unclear how they were killed. Three other people were arrested.
The dead officer is described only as a 15-year veteran of the department.
– Tony Perry in San Diego
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A veteran San Diego police officer was killed during a shootout inside an apartment where the gunman was believed to be holed up early Thursday, a department spokeswoman said.
San Diego officers were assisting the U.S. Marshal’s Service and probation officers in a check on an assault with a deadly weapon suspect and were inside the apartment when the suspect opened fire at 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, Lt. Andra Brown said.
Three officers, including the fatally wounded officer, returned fire and backed out of the apartment in the Paradise Hills area of southeast San Diego.
“There was a hail of bullets,” Brown said when asked to estimate the number of gunshots.
Officers carried the wounded officer out of the building and he died at a hospital.
“There was heroic action by the officers,” the lieutenant said.
The type of weapon wasn’t immediately known. The name of the officer is being withheld. Brown would only say he was a veteran officer with more than 15 years on the force.
A police dog was also wounded.
At least two people inside the apartment with the gunman emerged later. They weren’t hurt.
The gunman remained barricaded inside the apartment with a SWAT surrounding the complex. Nearby apartments were evacuated, displacing at least 50 people.
Brown said at 5:15 a.m. Thursday that the SWAT team was preparing “a tactical entry.”
