By Karen Kucher
The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — A confrontation in a parking lot at Mesa College early Wednesday led to a police K-9 being killed and an armed man being shot by San Diego police, officials said.
Few details were immediately available about the incident, including the condition of the man who was shot.
Police said the incident began shortly before 1:30 a.m. when someone reported “some sort of shooting-type incident,” said San Diego police spokesperson Adam Sharki. The location of the shooting wasn’t immediately released. Sharki said officers confronted the suspect on the community college campus in the Clairemont neighborhood.
“Officers responded to a radio call involving some sort of shooting-type incident,” Sharki said. "(During) the course of that investigation, officers had a confrontation with a suspect which led to an officer-involved shooting.”
Sharki said police were investigating several different scenes.
The initial call was about a road rage-type incident, according to police Officer David O’Brien.
The suspect left his car on a center divider off Mesa College Drive Circle near Armstrong Place. Fox 5 San Diego showed a white Tesla with its trunk open and lights flashing behind police crime scene tape at the campus.
According to radio calls, the suspect was seen holding something in one of his hands that officers thought might have been a cell phone. Officers later reported the man appeared to be holding a gun.
At one point, a police K-9, identified as K-9 Sir, was sent after the suspect. Then, shortly after 2:35 a.m., someone on the radio reported “shots fired” and said K-9 Sir had been hit.
The San Diego Police Officers Association confirmed on Twitter that K-9 Sir was killed in the shooting.
“A violent shooting suspect killed one of our K-9 dogs this morning. Our dog saved the lives of the officers and citizens in the area. RIP. The suspect is no longer a threat and the officers and innocent victims of the shooting are uninjured.”
A police helicopter that had been assisting officers at the college left the scene because of low clouds. The helicopter quickly returned after reports of shots being fired, and the crew reported seeing the man lying on the ground.
O’Brien said police received information from multiple callers about the incident.
Police said K-9 Sir was a 4-year-old Malinois who served with his human partner for a year and a half.
County sheriff’s homicide investigators are handling the investigation into the shooting under a countywide protocol that calls for sheriff’s office to investigate shootings involving SDPD officers. No other details were immediately released.
https://twitter.com/SDPOA/status/1686749722676191234
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.
—
©2023 The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Visit sandiegouniontribune.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.