Police Shoot, Kill Marine in Palm Springs

A Camp Pendleton marine was shot and killed by police in a Palm Springs parking garage during a fight in a parking garage at bar-closing time, it was reported Monday.

The man's name had not been released Monday by the Riverside County Coroner's Office, as family members were still being notified.

Second Lt. Savannah Moyer, the public affairs officer with the 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, told The Desert Sun newspaper on Sunday that "a Marine was fatally wounded in an incident yesterday morning."

She said the Marine was with the 1st Marine Logistics Group. That report could not be confirmed by City News Service today.

The Palm Springs Police Department continued to investigate the shooting, which broke out when two officers on bicycles were conducting a routine patrol near several bars as they closed at 2 a.m. Saturday.

The department says its officers saw a fight break out in the parking structure at 275 S. Indian Canyon Drive. As they talked with the driver of a black Chrysler 300, some sort of scuffle broke out between its driver and the officers, according to Palm Spring police Sgt. Mike Kovaleff.

It was not clear of the Marine was in the car or outside it, but Kivaleff said both officers fired their weapons. Both police officers have 4- 1/2 years with the department, and were put on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the shooting investigation, Kovaleff said.

A man who had been with the Marine was initially taken into custody for suspicion of being drunk, but he was released after police questioned him, Kovaleff said.

—City News Service, news from sister Patch site.