Update: Suspect is stable after shootout with police in Sacramento shopping center
A man wanted by police for attempted homicide was critically wounded Saturday after a shootout with Sacramento officers at supermarket shopping center near Cosumnes River College.
The Sacramento Police Department said the shooting happened at 4:38 p.m. in the parking lot between the Foods Co. and its gas station on the 7400 block of West Stockton Boulevard in the Valley Hi/North Laguna section of the city. Neither of the two officers involved in the gun battle were injured.
“When officers attempted an enforcement stop on the suspect, there was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and officers,” said Sacramento police spokeswoman Sgt. Sabrina Briggs. “There are no outstanding suspects and we will release more information as we receive it and are able.”
Sacramento officers were notified by Marysville police to be wary of an armed suspect in the area about an hour before the shootout.
Radio dispatch traffic indicated that officers were following the suspect, who was driving alone in a Chevrolet Impala, for several miles through south Sacramento before he pulled into the Foods Co. gas pumps. The driver jumped out of the vehicle and began firing before he was wounded and detained.
The man, who was not identified, was wanted by police in Marysville on suspicion of attempted homicide, Briggs said. He was initially listed in critical condition at a hospital, but was stable as of Sunday morning, according to police.
A large perimeter was set up for several hours in the parking lot of the shopping center and several adjacent streets were blocked off, including Bruceville Road and the Cosumnes River Boulevard offramp from Highway 99.
Officers recovered the suspect’s pistol, a small black Ruger, from the scene.
It’s unknown how many rounds were fired by either the officers or the suspect. Both officers, who were not identified, were placed on paid administrative leave, per department policy, as an investigation takes place. Video and audio of the incident are expected to be released within the next 30 days.
As part of the department’s protocol, the incident is being investigated with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, the Sacramento City Attorney’s Office and the city’s Office of Public Safety Accountability.
The last fatal Sacramento police officer-involved shooting was in September 2018, when 19-year-old Darell Richards, armed with a pellet gun modeled after a 9 mm handgun and a knife, was shot and killed. Richards had refused to drop the weapon while hiding beneath an occupied Curtis Park house after police searched several hours for a suspect matching his description walking along Broadway.
More recently, on Dec. 18 near the midtown Safeway, two people were injured after an officer discharged his weapon to fend off a dog he believed to be charging him. A man, who was being asked to leave the 19th Street property, and a security guard were struck by bullet shrapnel in the incident.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 5:51 PM.
