As shocked bystanders ran for cover and bullets flew, police shot and killed an armed homicide suspect Saturday morning during a pursuit that ended with police cars trailing the man as he drove along the Newport Beach Pier.
The chase began after Santa Ana police were asked by a law enforcement agency in Riverside County to apprehend a homicide suspect, Santa Ana police spokesperson Natalie Garcia said.
The man’s vehicle was located in the 1400 block of North Freeman Street in Santa Ana. The pursuit started after officers attempted a traffic stop, she said.
At around 6:50 a.m., Santa Ana police notified the Newport Beach police that the pursuit entered that city, Garcia said.
The shooting occurred at the pier. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
“The suspect did not fire at law enforcement,” Garcia said, “but he exited the vehicle armed with a firearm.”
No police officers were injured.
Sergio Rios, a bystander on the pier, said he saw a helicopter overhead, projecting a message to him and others. Then, he said, he saw a car – a Honda CRV – coming down the pier towards him, followed by multiple police cars.
The Honda stopped approximately 20 feet away from him. Officers ordered Rios and the other people to duck down right as gunfire erupted, he said.
He heard windows shattering, he said, and around one to two dozen rounds fired by police.
Rios described the suspect as a man in his mid-20s, and said he saw a bullet hole near the man’s shoulder.
In video obtained by ABC7, visitors were seen running away or getting down on the ground and hiding. Several gunshots could be heard on the video.
Rajon Robinson was at the pier with his father, brother, young son and nephew on a fishing trip at the time.
“Next thing you know, a helicopter is hovering above and we hear sirens,” he told ABC7. “Then we see a car driving up on the pier. We’ve never seen a car drive up on the pier before as we’re fishing.”
At first, the driver being pursued seemed calm, he said. Then the gunshots came.
“I’m kind of traumatized by it … we’re all traumatized and devastated,” he told the ABC7 reporter.
No additional information was immediately available.
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