Fleeing suspect fatally shot after aiming truck at officers

SACRAMENTO — A high-speed chase that streaked from Stockton into Sacramento in the early Tuesday morning hours ended with the fatal shooting of the suspect as he steered his truck toward officers.

Stockton highway patrol officers attempted to pull over the suspect’s white GMC pickup truck for a vehicle code violation in the area of State Route 4 and Center Street. The male suspect, whose identity is pending a coroner’s investigation, failed to yield and hit speeds of 100 mph as he fled northbound on Interstate 5.

Twenty minutes later, South Sacramento Division CHP officers joined the chase near the Hood Franklin overcrossing on I-5. The suspect exited the freeway on Laguna Boulevard and made a u-turn at Harbour Point Drive. He then attempted to re-enter the freeway using the Laguna Boulevard onramp. Believing the continued movement of the truck would place others in imminent danger, one of the CHP officers used his patrol car to pin the truck against the guardrail to end the pursuit.

Five additional CHP officers arrived, surrounded the suspect vehicle and ordered the driver to get out of truck. One of the officers deployed his taser, but it had no effect.

The suspect continued to ignore the officers’ commands and attempted to flee the scene by driving his truck at the officers. At that point, believing they were in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury, the officers fired their handguns at the suspect. The officers fired an undetermined number of shots at the suspect and struck him multiple times. The officers pulled the wounded suspect from his vehicle and rendered first aid until fire department paramedics arrived a short time later and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. Two CHP officers were taken to a local hospital for treatment of the minor injuries they sustained during the confrontation.

The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office will identify the suspect and release his identity after they notify his next-of-kin. The Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau is conducting a standard shooting investigation. The six officers involved in the incident will be placed on paid administrative leave. Four of the officers are assigned to the South Sacramento office, including one sergeant with 20 years of experience, two officers with four years of experience, and one officer with two years of experience. The two officers from the Stockton office have 10 years of experience.