SUSPECT ARRESTED AFTER SHOOTOUT

Man shot at Harbor police officer, who returned fire; bystander struck by round

A driver and a San Diego Harbor police officer exchanged gunfire Monday night during a traffic stop outside the San Diego Convention

Center. Neither was injured in the shootout, and police quickly arrested the gunman, authorities said.

A bystander was struck in the backside by a stray round from the gun battle, but a glasses case in his back pocket stopped the bullet, according to San Diego police homicide Capt. Rich Freedman and Lt. Andra Brown.

“Probably the worst nightmare to have somebody basically just walk out of the car and start firing at you,” Freedman said Monday night. “We’re lucky the officer wasn’t hurt. We’re very fortunate, obviously, that the bystander wasn’t hurt, and that the suspect ... was taken into custody without any further incident, and that he wasn’t hurt.”

The shooting happened a little after 7 p.m. directly in front of the convention center on Harbor Drive, near Fifth Avenue, according to Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department spokesman Sgt. Timothy De La Peña.

The officer stopped the gunman’s black Honda Accord after seeing it run a red light, Freedman said. The officer walked to the car and made contact with the driver, identified as a 29-yearold man, while the driver was still in his car.

The officer believed the man

was “showing signs of impairment” and asked him to get out so he could evaluate if he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Freedman said.

“As the (man) exited the vehicle, the officer immediately saw that the suspect reached and grabbed a weapon from his person, and began immediately firing at the officer,” Freedman said. “The officer quickly drew his weapon and returned fire, and the two engaged in a gun battle for a few seconds.”

Freedman said the officer backed up to get to a safer position behind his vehicle, and at some point the gunman came out with his hands up, “but still was not complying with the officer’s orders to surrender.” Other officers arrived to help take the man into custody, Freedman said.

The bystander called 911 a short time later to report that he was struck by a stray round, Freedman said. Medics took him to a hospital for a precautionary evaluation. He was released soon afterward.

“(The) item in his back pocket, (it) looks like actually prevented the round from actually penetrating his body,” Freedman said.

It was not immediately clear if the round that hit the bystander came from the officer’s gun or the other man’s gun.

Though the shooting involved a Harbor police officer, San Diego Police Department’s homicide unit is investigating, as it does for all shootings in the city that involve law enforcement.

FOX5 reporter Jeff McAdam was filming a news segment Monday night near the convention center, when shots rang out during his broadcast. He reported seeing the officer walking backward and shooting at the man before taking cover behind his vehicle.

In a video McAdam posted to Twitter, at least five shots can be heard ringing out in the initial burst of gunfire. Seconds later, three more shots are heard. After a few more seconds, there is another burst of several shots, though it’s difficult to determine how many.

Brown, the San Diego homicide lieutenant, said the officer involved in the shooting, whose name was not released, has been with the Harbor Police Department for a little more than three years. Freedman said the officer was wearing a body camera, and it was recording during the shooting.

Freedman said the gunman is expected to face several charges, including attempted murder of the officer.

The shooting outside the convention center was the second non-injury shooting by San Diegoarea law enforcement Monday. The first happened a little after midnight, when California Highway Patrol officers were involved in a chase with a carjacked vehicle that ended in San Diego’s Serra Mesa neighborhood. Two CHP officers fired their weapons at the SUV as its driver accelerated toward them and rammed their patrol vehicle.

Nobody was struck by the gunfire, but one of the CHP officers was briefly pinned between the SUV and the patrol vehicle, suffering minor injuries, police said.

Monday night’s shooting was also the second involving police in downtown San Diego within a week. On Thursday, a San Diego police officer shot and injured a man who allegedly pulled a knife on him and threatened him.

The shooting last week and the two on Monday were the first three involving officers in the county in 2021. Last year 17 people were shot — either wounded or killed — by law enforcement officers in the county.