A spokesman for the San Diego Sheriff's Department originally said the two victims in the home had been attacked with a machete but later modified that description to "a metal object" — Ed.
A San Diego police officer shot and killed a man in Fairmount Park on Tuesday after he allegedly attacked two women in his family with some sort of metal object.
The 48-year-old man was shot in a bathroom of a home in the 1500 block of Bridgeview Drive and then was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Officers received a radio call of an assault with a deadly weapon at the home shortly after 8 a.m., said Lt. Chris Steffen with the San Diego Sheriff's homicide unit, which was called in to investigate the shooting by a San Diego police officer.
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When officers arrived, they were met by two female victims, aged 73 and 79, who were identified by Steffen as family members. One of the women had a cut on her head, while the other had a laceration on her neck, Steffen said in a news conference outside the home at about 12:30. Both women were later hospitalized.
Shortly after that, officers made contact with the suspect, who had barricaded himself in a bathroom. The officers directed pepper spray into the bathroom in an effort to get the man to come out, Steffen said.
When negotiations failed, officers sent in a canine unit. The dog was struck with a sharp object inside the bathroom. Steffen said, and the man "lunged at the officer."
"In a response to that, the officers ended up ultimately shooting the suspect," Steffen said. "One officer shot one round and the suspect went down."
No officers were injured in the incident, Steffen said. The dog was taken for treatment.
"It's still unclear if it was the [metal object] used against the other victims or another type of weapon," Steffen said.
Police have not yet determined what precipitated the events on Tuesday.
"It's too soon to tell if mental health is an issue in this case," Steffen said.
Steffen said the street would be blocked off for quite some time while deputies completed their investigation.
In April of this year, officials announced that law enforcement agencies in San Diego County had signed a memorandum that would change the way investigations of deadly law-enforcement-involved shootings are handled. The memorandum of understanding ensures that no law enforcement agency in the county is investigating their own officers when they are involved in deadly shootings, which was previously the practice.
Under the memorandum, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department will investigate all SDPD use of force incidents involving death. The San Diego Police Department will investigate the sheriff’s office and all other agencies. The Chula Vista Police Department will investigate incidents that involve both SDPD and Sheriff’s Department.
The DA's office will continue to review all incidents, and a DA investigator will be dispatched to the scene of all shootings to gather information as the investigation into the deadly shooting is ongoing.
