San Diego police have identified the officer who shot a man accused of killing a brother and sister in the city's Mountain View area.
Following a high-speed chase and two-hour police standoff, officials say Officer Christopher Luth, an 11-year veteran of the SDPD, shot Felipe Vega, 39, sending him to the hospital.
Last week, officers were on the lookout for Vega, who is suspected of shooting Arline Iribe and Alexis Velarde to death in his driveway on Nov. 8.
On Nov. 12, an SDPD officer spotted a 1998 green Oldsmobile Cutlass, the same car Vega was last seen driving.
When the officer tried to pull the car over on S. 43rd Street, Vega refused, and a pursuit ensued.
Officers chased Vega across multiple San Diego freeways and watched as he threw a handgun out the window, police say.
Finally, Vega pulled into a City Heights apartment complex on Van Dyke Avenue, refusing to get out of his vehicle.
Police negotiators soon arrived, and a SWAT team used pepper spray and a police K-9 in an effort to force him from the vehicle.
After two hours, Vega emerged. Police say he reached for his waistband area while turning toward officers, so Officer Luth fired one round at Vega. The shot struck him in the upper torso.
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Vega was handcuffed and taken to the hospital. He is now in stable condition, officials say.
The bodies of Velarde and Iribe were found on the driveway at Vega's home in Mountain View.
Family of the victims described Vega was a close family friend. Police said Velarde tried to shield his sister from the gunfire before he died. Both siblings succumbed to their wounds.
Investigators have not yet released any details about a possible motive for the killings, but family members say they believe the siblings confronted Vega about his feelings for their cousin before they died– feelings the cousin did not reciprocate.
