A trolley passenger was shot and killed by San Diego police Sunday night after he threatened officers with a pellet gun made to look like a real pistol, the San Diego Police Department said Monday.
Police shot the man as he exited an MTS trolley at the San Ysidro Transit Center at around 9 p.m.
Witnesses called police as the trolley was heading south toward the transit station, the last and southern-most stop on the MTS Blue Line, reporting an armed passenger, SDPD said in a news release. Other witnesses told SDPD they saw the suspect acting erratically, the release said.
Minutes after passengers began evacuating the trolley car, SDPD officers arrived at the transit station. They gave the man verbal warnings to drop what they believed was a pistol and was later confirmed to be a CO2 pellet gun designed to look like a Glock pistol, but the man ignored them, according to SDPD.
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The man then moved forward toward officers and pointed the pellet gun at them, prompting one officer to shoot the man with at least two rifle rounds. Paramedics treated the man for multiple gunshot wounds but he died at the transit station, SDPD said.
A witness told NBC 7 he heard up to six gunshots.
The suspect has not been identified.
The shooting shut down the transit center for several hours, but service was restored by 5:30 a.m. Monday.
Per countywide protocol for police shootings, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shooting.
This is a developing story. NBC 7 will update this page with more information as it arrives.
