Nightclub shooting leaves one dead

Andy Albarran, 46, Killed at Beaumont nightclub Shooting near 2 AM, Saturday July 16th

BEAUMONT – A man shot outside a Beaumont nightclub early Saturday morning died later that afternoon.

Beaumont police apprehended the suspect, but only after he failed to drop his weapon and an officer shot him an unspecified number of times.

The victim, Andy Albarran, 46, of Beaumont, was shot multiple times during a fight just before 2 a.m. in the parking lot outside a nightclub in the 500 block of Beaumont Avenue. Albarran died as a result of his injuries about 11 hours later, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s Office.

Officers were dispatched to the scene after receiving reports of a crowd that had gathered outside the nightclub, police said. A fight broke out behind the nightclub and an officer saw a man firing a gun at another man.

Beaumont police spokeswoman Darcy Mulvihill said the officer ordered the suspect to drop his weapon. When the suspect refused, Mulvihill said the unidentified Beaumont police officer believed the suspect would begin shooting again and fired upon the suspect.

Both Albarran and the suspect were transported to a local regional hospital. Albarran died at 1:05 p.m., according to the coroner.

The suspect, said Mulvihill, has not been charged. “Until he’s medically cleared, he won’t be charged,” she explained.

When that occurs, authorities would release his name, she added.

The suspect will likely be charged with Albarran’s death and will be booked into a jail facility, according to reports. Mulvihill did not divulge the nature of the suspect’s injuries, though the police described the wounds of both men as “serious.”

Mulvihill said Beaumont police is still investigating the cause of the shooting.

The officer who shot the suspect was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation to be conducted by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, which is standard procedure.

Beaumont police are still seeking witnesses to the incident.

The fatal shooting was a rarity for the Riverside County community.

“Since 2000, we’ve had no more than one (murder) a year,” Mulvihill said.

There were no deaths throughout 2010, one each in 2008 and 2009 and none in 2007. This incident has brought this year’s total to two. In January, a man was murdered by an out-of-town transient.