Officers were involved in a fatal shooting in Glendale Sunday night after a man stole a police cruiser and led authorities on a pursuit.
The events that led to the shooting began when the Glendale Police Department took a call at 8:40 p.m. from a person in West Covina and transferred it to the West Covina Police Department, said Sgt. Bill Cotter with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Two officers were dispatched to make contact with the person and found him about 10 minutes later, Cotter said.
At some point during the conversation with officers, the man requested to be taken somewhere on the boundary of West Covina and the officers complied, Cotter said.
“Once he complied with that request, something happened at that transition point where the gentleman took control of the radio car and stole it and led the officers on the pursuit,” Cotter said.
The unidentified man led police on an hour-long chase that involved several surface streets and multiple freeways, including the 710, 5, 101 and 170.
Eventually, officers performed a PIT maneuver and boxed the cruiser into a parking lot area in Glendale.
At some point, officers opened fire on the vehicle in the 100 block of South Glendale Avenue, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stated in a news release.
It was unclear how many officers shot at the vehicle, Cotter said.
The man inside the stolen cruiser, who was about 45 years old, was pronounced dead at the scene, Cotter said. The man’s identity has not been released.
No officers were injured in the incident.
The Sheriff’s Department was called to assist the West Covina Police Department with the investigation, according to the news release.
Authorities were interviewing the officers involved in the incident and searching for witnesses, Cotter said.