By Sydney Barragan
Pasadena Star-News, Calif.
PASADENA, Calif. — A Pasadena man fatally shot by police in March after wounding an officer had allegedly first shot a man who tried to intervene in a sexual assault, according to a critical incident report and video released by the police department on Friday, May 15.
The man, Malcolm Buchanan, 32, was later captured on a witness’s video committing a second assault against the same woman before opening fire on officers during a foot pursuit, the video released by police shows.
The report and video provide new details about the March 2 shooting near the Sierra Madre Villa Metro station, where Officer Bryan Vasquez was wounded during an exchange of gunfire with Buchanan.
According to the department’s video narration, officers were dispatched around 7:30 p.m. to the Metro station after reports of a shooting.
Body camera footage showed officers making contact with a wounded man while someone applied pressure to his injury. Police said the victim described the suspect as a man in his 30s wearing a white shirt and black shorts, with a “P” tattoo on his face.
A woman then approached officers and said the man had been shot while trying to stop her from being sexually assaulted, according to police.
Body camera footage showed the woman speaking with officers near the Metro station.
“He grabbed me. He held me. Then he shoots at him,” the woman said in the footage, referring to Buchanan and the man she said he shot.
Police said witness video captured a second sexual assault involving the same woman near the 3300 block of East Foothill Boulevard before Buchanan fled the area.
Officers located a man matching Buchanan’s description near the 600 block of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, police said.
Body camera footage showed officers chasing a man wearing a white shirt and black shorts while repeatedly ordering him to stop and drop his backpack.
According to police, Buchanan stopped, turned toward an officer and fired multiple rounds from a handgun, prompting officers to return fire.
The footage captured the sound of multiple gunshots. One officer’s body camera showed Buchanan falling to the ground before additional gunfire erupted moments later.
Text shown in the department’s video states Buchanan “sits up and re-engages officer in gunfire” after initially falling to the ground.
The wounded officer can then be heard saying, “My leg, my leg.”
Additional footage showed officers rendering aid while another officer warned colleagues to “keep an eye on that gun,” referring to a firearm near the suspect.
Police later recovered what investigators described as a stolen Glock handgun from the scene. The firearm had been reported stolen out of Los Angeles, according to the video narration.
Police said Buchanan was on active parole for armed robbery at the time of the shooting.
Vasquez, a five-year veteran of the department, underwent surgery following the shooting and was hospitalized in guarded condition, according to previous statements from Pasadena police.
The shooting remains under investigation by the Pasadena Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
© 2026 Pasadena Star-News, Calif.. Visit www.pasadenastarnews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
