Gun Battle Suspect Killed, The Other Identified After High Speed Chase

YUCCA VALLEY – A high speed chase last week that began with a carjacking murder, ended with the shooting death of one suspect after the pursuit ended in the city of San Bernardino, over an hour away from Yucca Valley.

The carjacking and shooting happened at Town Center Mall in Yucca Valley

On Monday, law enforcement officials released the name Jose Eduardo Gomez, 19, as one of the two suspects. The other suspect, also 19 and who was killed by police, has not yet been identified.

Obette Reyes Lacap, 33, of Beaumont, was killed when the two suspects attempted to carjack his vehicle at a Yucca Valley mall. When he refused to give up his car, one suspect fired a bullet through the window. Lacap was pronounced dead at 11:55 a.m. on May 9.

An immediate chase ensued, law enforcement agencies chasing the suspects on State Route 62 to Interstate 10, heading westbound through a portion of Riverside County before exiting at Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino. The high speed pursuit, which reached over 100 mph at times, preceded a gunfight that left one suspect dead and the other wounded, along with a CHP officer who was shot in the leg, and is reportedly in satisfactory condition.

Both CHP and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies were initially involved in the pursuit. The suspect’s vehicle crashed in a parking lot at the corner of Carnegie and Brier drives, an area known as Hospitality Restaurant Row. There are other business offices, hotels and motels in the immediate area. Reports are that both suspects opened fire on the CHP and deputy, who returned fire. One of the bullets from the exchange struck a side view mirror on a public bus, but no injuries to any passengers or the driver was reported, according to authorities.

The chase ended with a shootout near Carnegie Drive, Brier Drive and Hospitality Lane

Lacap had been found slumped over in the driver’s seat of his white sedan at 11:41. Deputies from the Morongo Basin Station had responded to a call of shots being fired at the Town Center Mall, which is located on the corner of Highway 62 and Warren Vista Street.

Deputies had to force their way into the vehicle before discovering Lacap had been shot. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. A radio broadcast was quickly dispatched which led to a CHP unit attempting to conduct an enforcement stop on the suspect’s vehicle. When the suspect did not stop, the pursuit began.

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mydesert.com: Authorities release name of man killed in Yucca Valley prior to CHP shootout