Shootout leaves San Diego officer dead
SAN DIEGO — Two San Diego police officers were shot — one fatally — after a late-night stop turned into a gunfight, triggering a manhunt that led to the capture of one wounded suspect in a ravine and an hours-long SWAT standoff Friday that ended after officers detained a second man who may have been involved.
The chain of events unfolded over more than 12 hours in southeastern San Diego. It started about 11 p.m. Thursday when two veteran gang unit officers in bulletproof vests stopped a person on a street. Almost immediately a shootout ensued.
Authorities initially said the officers made a traffic stop but clarified later they were still trying to determine whether it was a stop to check out a pedestrian.
Jonathan DeGuzman, 43, a 16-year veteran of the DeGuzman Irwin force, died at a hospital. Wade Irwin, 32, was expected to survive, San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said.
Police quickly captured Jesse Gomez, 52, she said. He was in critical condition Friday with a gunshot wound but was expected to survive.
About nine hours after the shootout during the search for a second “potential” suspect, heavily armed officers surrounded a house about a half-mile away from the shootout scene. Then, officers raced to another house about two blocks away. The possible suspect wasn’t at either house.
Zimmerman said officers arrested a man in the area Police officers surround a San Diego house where a possible suspect in the gunfight was thought to be located. on an unrelated warrant. She said police were investigating to see whether Marcus Antonio Cassani, 41, had any role in the shootout.