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ESCONDIDO —
A suspect in a Vista homicide was killed early Monday and an Escondido police officer was injured in a shootout following a lengthy pursuit through North County, officials said.
The man who was killed was believed to be a suspect sought in a fatal shooting at a Vista home Sunday evening, officials said.
A pursuit of the suspect ended on West Mission Avenue in Escondido around 3 a.m., police confirmed.
It was unclear where or when the pursuit began.
Oceanside spokesperson Jennifer Atenza said Oceanside police at one point put down a spike strip on state Route 78 to try to stop the car the suspect was driving. He drove over the strip but kept going, she said.
She said sheriff’s deputies and Escondidio police put down another spike strip at a different location.
NBC 7 San Diego reported that the suspect’s car was shut down remotely by OnStar, an in-vehicle security system, before he engaged in a shootout with police.
Atenza said police brought an armored vehicle called a Bearcat to assist with the stop of the suspect and the vehicle “took several rounds.”
“This was a suspect who had zero regard for any human life whatsoever,” she said, noting there was an apartment complex near where the suspect’s vehicle finally came to a stop. “When you have a suspect firing indescriminately, the worse fear is (he) is going to hit innocent bystanders.”
The condition of the Escondido police officer who was shot was not released.
In the Vista shooting, sheriff’s deputies went to a home on Teelin Avenue near West Indian Rock Road about 5:05 p.m. where they found an unresponsive victim, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Galve said Sunday night. No other details about the victim were released.
Escondido police said they planned to issue a statement on the shooting Monday morning.
Source: This post first appeared on sandiegouniontribune.com
