Police shoot double murder suspect in California
Feb 15, 2012, 6:15 AM
YUBA CITY, Calif. (AP) – A man suspected of killing two Northern California women and injuring a third was fatally shot by police officers Tuesday after a brief foot chase.
Yuba City police spokeswoman Shawna Pavey said officers responded around 4:15 p.m. to multiple reports of gunshots at a Yuba City home.
The arriving officers saw a gun-wielding suspect run from the house, and gave chase for about a block, Pavey said.
“That pursuit culminated with an officer firing on the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene,” she said.
Police did not identify the slain suspect or the two women found dead from gunshot wounds inside the home. Pavey said authorities had not yet determined if there was a relationship between the suspect and the two women.
Investigators believe the suspect also shot a third woman, who was found injured but alive inside the home. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Pavey said the hospital was optimistic the woman would survive, and that investigators were eager to speak with her.
Pavey would not identify the officer involved in the shooting, but said he was a veteran on the force.
A witness told the Appeal-Democrat of Marysville that the officer had his gun drawn and told the man repeatedly to get on the ground once the officer caught up to him.
Resident Doc Lyman said the man appeared frustrated and that his hands were empty.
“I watched the cop blow him to pieces,” Lyman told the newspaper. “It was like something out of Hollywood. Just something I’ve never seen in my life except when I was in Vietnam.”
Police say they don’t believe the shooting to be gang-related.
Yuba City is about 40 miles north of Sacramento.
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