West Covina police shot and seriously wounded a man Sunday following a wild high-speed chase to Pomona during which he opened fire on police with a shotgun, drove the wrong way on the 10 Freeway, crashed into a house and carjacked a second vehicle, authorities said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital following the shooting, where he was listed in critical condition, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Tony Moore.
Sheriff’s officials initially said the suspect had died at the hospital following the shooting.
“That information was reported to us incorrectly,” Moore said. “The suspect is not deceased and is listed in critical condition.”
The shooting took place about 4 p.m. on Alvarado Street, just west of Park Avenue, officials said.
The incident began about 15 minutes prior, when a police officer spotted an SUV that had been reported carjacked driving in the area of Temple Avenue and Amar Road in West Covina, West Covina police Lt. Alan Henley said. The SUV failed to pull over for the officer, initiating a pursuit at high-speeds.
When the chase reached the area of Amar Road and Amber Valley Drive in Walnut, “The suspect pointed a shotgun out the window and fired at officers,” Henley said.
The suspect was believed to have fired one or two blasts from his shotgun, police added. No officers were struck.
The pursuit continued onto the 10 Freeway, where the suspect drove on the wrong side of the roadway into Pomona, Henley said. At several times during the chase, the fleeing driver pointed his shotgun back toward the pursuing officers and made “furtive movements,” he added.
The fleeing SUV exited the freeway and crashed into a house in the area of Park and McKinley avenues, officials said. The suspect then allegedly carjacked a second vehicle, a white Honda sedan.
Authorities late Sunday could not confirm initial reports from the scene that a child had been left behind in the crashed SUV.
The white car rammed a police car before the pursuit came to an end on Alvarado Street, Henley said.
The circumstances of what took place next remained under investigation, officials said, however an officer-involved shooting took place in which the suspect was struck in the upper body.
West Covina and Pomona police swarmed the scene in the minutes following the shooting and shut down Alvarado Street in the area where the shooting occurred.
Maria Hernandez, 40, said she was in her home when she heard a single gunshot and looked outside to see what was going on.
By the time she looked outside, police were already taking the wounded man into custody, she said. “He was yelling.”
She added the white Honda the suspect has been driving continued moving without a driver until it struck a curb.
The wounded suspect’s name was not released Sunday. Witnesses said he appeared to be a Latino man in his 30s.
As is common practice with officer-involved shootings involving Los Angeles County police agencies, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau is leading the investigation, officials said.
