Otay Mesa

1 Shot in Otay Mesa Officer-Involved Shooting

The officer-involved shooting happened along Beyer Way, east of Montgomery High School and south of the Otay River

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A man was shot Thursday morning deep in a canyon in Otay Mesa during a confrontation with San Diego police, officials confirmed.

San Diego Police Department officers from the Neighborhood Policing Division were conducting an outreach and cleanup operation at about 6 a.m. along the 600 block of Beyer Way. The area is south of Otay Valley Regional Park and the Otay River, approximately 7 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

SDPD Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said two officers approached a homeless man in a canyon. The 70-year-old man then produced a handgun, the officers then gave the man commands to get on the ground. That's when the man reached for the handgun and officers used their service weapons, SDPD Lt. Andra Brown said.

One person was shot during an officer-involved shooting in an Otay Mesa canyon.

The man was hit and was transported to a local hospital where he underwent surgery. His wounds are considered non-life threatening. The officers were not hurt.

The Homicide Unit was called to the scene and detectives recovered what appears to be a handgun, Brown said.

The name of the officers involved is not being released at this time. But SDPD said one of the officers has been with the department for one year and the other for eight years.

The scene of the shooting is east of Montgomery High School and Montgomery Adult School, where authorities set up a command post in a campus parking lot. An officer told NBC 7 that classes at Montgomery Adult School would be canceled Thursday morning due to the investigation in the area. Evening classes were supposed to go as scheduled.

Montgomery High School's start time was scheduled for 7:40 a.m. and police said classes on that campus would go on as planned.

There's also a preschool program at Montgomery, parents trying to drop their kids off at that program were being turned away.

A mother who NBC 7 spoke with said that the school did not notify her about classes being canceled for the day and that she now had to find a last-minute babysitter.

SkyRanger 7 captured images of the scene following the shooting. Several SDPD vehicles were parked along Beyer Way. Other officers were parked on a road just off Beyer Way, where they investigated a canyon area surrounded by heavy brush.

Beyer Way was shut down near Palm Avenue and police urged motorists and passersby to avoid the area.

Police reopened Beyer Way just after 7:30 a.m.

Anyone with information can call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

NBC 7's Lauren Coronado spoke with students who attend the adult school.
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