Man holding grill lighter detained after officer fires shot at him in Elk Grove, police say

A man was taken into custody following an officer-involved shooting late Thursday morning on Orchard Loop Lane near Power Inn Road, Elk Grove police and Sacramento County sheriff’s officials said.

The man was grazed by a bullet in the shooting in the 8000 block of Orchard Loop Lane and was treated at a local hospital.

Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Shaun Hampton said that two Elk Grove police officers contacted a 25-year-old man walking near the driveway of a Firestone store on Orchard Loop Lane around 11 a.m. Thursday.

“We believe that the suspect had an item in his hand,” Hampton said. “During the contact, at some point the suspect turned toward the officers. We believe at this point the officers, fearing for their safety, one of them discharged his firearm... The suspect immediately surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident.”

Police later discovered that the item was a 10-inch grill lighter, which “had a trigger mechanism” and “was consistent in appearance to the barrel of a revolver,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release. The lighter was dropped during the shooting, the release said.

Elk Grove police spokesman Officer Jason Jimenez said that the two officers were in a single patrol car and that because the incident took place just north of Elk Grove city limits, the Sheriff’s Department will take the lead on investigation into the shooting.

The Elk Grove officer who fired the shot, a 19-year law enforcement veteran who has worked at the department since 2006, will be placed on paid leave while the Sheriff’s Department and Elk Grove Police Department’s internal affairs division each investigate, the news release said.

Hampton said authorities “were aware of a few” previous encounters between the suspect and law enforcement.

The suspect has been identified only as a 25-year-old Sacramento man. The news release said his name and photo would be be released when his identity is confirmed and he is booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail.

Hampton and Jimenez could not yet comment on what led the officers to approach the suspect.

About two dozen Elk Grove and Sacramento County sheriff’s squad cars responded to the area. The incident limited access to Firestone and three other nearby auto repair shops, located just off Calvine Road near Highway 99.

Investigators remained at the scene the rest of the day. Firestone’s auto garage remained open.

This story was originally published January 17, 2019 at 11:50 AM.