A large law enforcement presence was called out to an area near Mile of Cars Way in National City Friday after a person was fatally shot by an undercover sheriff's deputy who, police say, bailed out of a car being followed by other deputies.
Because of a cross-departmental agreement to investigate officer-involved shootings, San Diego police are handling the investigation.
Later in the afternoon, SDPD Lt. Lou Maggi provided an update on the incident, telling the media that the deputies were trying to stop a white Acura, which had three people inside when a passenger in the front seat bailed and fled on foot, he said, and deputies then were called in for backup from the National City Police Department.
Maggi said that a citizen directed deputies to an area of a parking lot at a Dodge dealership nearby, where deputies located the person who they were searching for hiding in a tow truck. At some point, an undercover deputy fired at the man, according to the lieutenant, killing him. That person was shot inside the vehicle, Maggi said at the news conference, and was then pulled outside the truck, where officers rendered aid, but he died at the scene.
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Investigators later located a gun near the man, whose age is not yet known. The weapon appears to have jammed, Maggi said. NBC 7 later asked Maggi if there had been an exchange of gunfire, and at that time he said he did not know if the person who was killed fired any shots. Later in the evening, SDPD said in a news release that as "the detective gave the man commands, it appears the man fired at least one round in the detective’s direction, shattering the passenger window of the tow truck and injuring the detective with shards of broken glass. The detective returned fire, striking the man."
At least a half-dozen police vehicles, many with San Diego Sheriff's Department logos, blocked the intersection at Hoover Avenue for hours afterward. At least three deputies were spotted searching the Acura for quite a while, with a second scene not far away involving the flatbed tow truck.
Authorities said the deputy injured in the incident, which took place around 2 p.m., was taken to UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center with what Maggi called minor injuries.
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Witnesses getting food nearby at the time of the shooting told NBC 7 that they heard what they thought were at least five gunshots. They also said they saw a woman in the Acura taken into custody at gunpoint and that officers were still aiming their firearms at the vehicle afterward. Maggi confirmed later in the day that both of the other people in the Acura were arrested on drug-related charges.
San Diego police said in the early evening that the undercover deputy and a National City officer with him in the parking lot both had body-worn cameras when the shooting occurred.
Also in the news release sent out by SDPD, officials said that the undercover deputy, who is assigned to the East County Regional Gang Task Force, has been with the sheriff's department for about 35 years.
NBC 7's Shelby Bremer contributed to this report.
