3 Killed, Police Officer Wounded In Little Italy Shootings

SAN DIEGO, CA — A man who police say fatally shot two people in the Little Italy area of San Diego was shot and killed by police during a shootout, and one of the police officers is recovering Thursday from a gunshot wound.

The initial round of deadly gunfire erupted in the 1300 block of Union Street shortly before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the San Diego Police Department. Officers arrived to find a 39-year-old man and 31-year-old woman mortally wounded, SDPD Lt. Jud Campbell told reporters.

The victims, who apparently knew the shooter, were believed to have been inside a car when they were shot, according to police. They died at the scene.

About 45 minutes later, as a police helicopter circled over downtown San Diego broadcasting a description of the shooter over a loudspeaker system, a bystander flagged down two officers with the Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department in the 2200 block of Kettner Boulevard and directed them to a possible suspect.

When the personnel, joined by two other harbor police officers, tried to contact the 26-year-old man, an exchange of gunfire ensued, leaving one of the lawmen and the suspect wounded.

The officer -- a three-month member of the agency who was taking part in field training at the time of the shootout -- was transported to a trauma center for treatment of a gunshot wound to the hip, authorities said.

"We believe he is going to be OK at this point, but his status is unknown," SDPD Chief Scott Wahl told reporters in the late morning.

The suspect was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Initial evidence suggested that the assailant targeted the victims, as opposed to committing a random shooting, Campbell said during an afternoon briefing. The lieutenant, however, declined to disclose details on "the relationship between these two victims and the suspect" pending notification of their families.

It also appeared that the suspect initiated the subsequent shootout by opening fire on the officers, prompting two of them to return fire, according to Campbell.

At midday, homicide investigators were working to determine what led to the double homicide in one of San Diego's busiest and most tourist-friendly downtown enclaves.

"The motive and the reason behind this shooting (are) completely unknown at this point," the police chief told news crews. "It is an active investigation. I do want to put out to the public that we believe there is no further threat to the community, that we have (accounted for) everybody that was involved in this initial shooting incident."

Wahl praised the harbor police personnel who confronted and subdued the armed suspect under highly perilous circumstances.

"This is Little Italy," he said. "We have people walking the streets, coffee shops. (The officers') ability to run towards gunfire and courageously engage this individual, I believe, saved lives."

— City News Service