Authorities Thursday publicly identified three San Diego Police Department officers who opened fire on a Tierrasanta resident last weekend when he allegedly pointed a handgun at them.
SDPD Officers Jason Langley, Cassie Louret and Austin Thomas fired on the 62-year-old man in a hallway outside his apartment in the 11200 block of Tierrasanta Boulevard shortly after noon Saturday, said Lt. Chris Steffen of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which investigates police shootings in San Diego.
It remains unclear if the officers' gunfire wounded the resident, whose name has not been released. Following the shooting, he ran back into his apartment, then exited out a back patio and fled onto a walkway behind the complex.
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At that point, a single gunshot sounded, and deputies in a sheriff's patrol helicopter circling above the scene saw the suspect lying motionless on the footpath, Steffen said. Police then approached him and determined that he was dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Autopsy results have not been released.
The events that led to the shootings began with a report of a possible fire in the man's apartment, according to Steffen.
Finding smoke emanating from the locked residence, firefighters forced entry and saw the suspect sitting on a couch, pointing a gun in their direction, Steffen said. They retreated, and San Diego police personnel moved in to try to make contact with the resident. Officers were positioned in the hallway outside his apartment when he allegedly emerged, wielding a gun.
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Langley has been employed by the SDPD for eight years, Louret for 17 years and Thomas for one year. They will serve desk duty pending completion of investigations in the case, as is standard procedure in all instances of officer-involved shootings in San Diego.
