An off-duty Fontana police officer shot and killed a suspected robber at the officer’s home in Apple Valley on Wednesday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
A 911 call about a robbery in progress came in at 5:39 a.m. from a home in the 20000 block of Ochoa Road, a sheriff’s news release stated.
The victim said he woke up and found a man — armed with a handgun — in his home and trying to steal property. The Sheriff’s Department did not say what the man was trying to steal.
Neighbor Jamie Valenzuela said investigators told her the intruder attempted to steal the officer’s wallet, keys, gun and was trying to take his motorcycle too.
“The guy looked like he was going to cooperate and bring the motorcycle back and that’s when things escalated,” Valenzuela said.
The off-duty officer briefly struggled with the man, eventually holding him a gunpoint, but the man refused to comply with commands to show his hands or to lie down on the ground, according to the release.
“As the suspect reached into his waistband, the victim shot him in the upper torso,” the release stated.
The would-be robber was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The officer was not injured.
There were multiple evidence markers on the ground and on the edge of a pickup truck parked in the driveway, video from the scene showed. The Sheriff’s Department did not say where on the property the shooting had occurred.
The department also did not say if a weapon was found on scene.
The officer was an eight-year veteran of the Fontana Police Department, a spokeswoman for that department said. He will be placed on administrative leave, she said.
The shooting comes a day after an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant shot at several suspected robbers at his home in San Gabriel.
All four suspects in the case are juveniles who are expected to face residential burglary charges, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday. The two of them who were shot were hospitalized in stable condition and are expected to survive.
KTLA’s Jennifer Thang contributed to this article.
Shooting inv; 20000 blk Ochoa Road, Apple Valley – homeowner is off-duty officer, shoots robbery suspect;suspect deceased. More to follow
— San Bernardino County Sheriff (@sbcountysheriff) March 16, 2016
