Officers in Riverside County fatally shoot driver who rammed into police cruisers, authorities say

Law enforcement officers shot and killed a man in Riverside County early Friday morning after they said he rammed his vehicle into multiple police cruisers, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

During the incident, which involved officers from the Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol and the Beaumont and Banning police departments, a police officer was pinned under a vehicle when the suspect tried to flee, authorities said in a news release.

The officer was treated at a hospital for injuries that were not expected to be life-threatening; it was not clear which agency the officer belongs to.

Around 10 p.m. Thursday in the 17000 block of Ridge Canyon Drive, in an unincorporated area of Perris, Riverside County sheriff’s deputies responded to a domestic disturbance call. By the time deputies arrived, the suspect had left, and deputies learned he was near the 10 Freeway in the city of Beaumont, about 30 miles east, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The suspect was also wanted for a felony warrant on an assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, kidnapping, vandalism and a domestic violence restraining order violation.

Shortly after 1 a.m., a Sheriff’s Department helicopter spotted the suspect’s vehicle in the 400 block of East 4th Street in Beaumont. After additional deputies and officers were called, they found the suspect in his vehicle and he tried to flee, authorities said. The suspect rammed multiple vehicles, including police cruisers and a car with a civilian inside, and one officer was trapped under a vehicle, according to the news release.

Multiple police officers shot at the suspect’s vehicle. After numerous attempts to get him out of the vehicle and seeing no movement inside, police approached the vehicle and saw that the suspect was dead, according to authorities.

An armored rescue vehicle was called to the scene to free the injured officer.

The Sheriff’s Department did not answer follow-up questions, including about which vehicle the officer was trapped under, but video captured by OnScene.TV shows deputies in the armored rescue vehicle slowly approaching a Ram pickup truck with multiple bullet holes in its windshield.

There were no other reported injuries.

The names of the suspect and the deputies and officers who shot him have not been released, according to the Sheriff’s Department; the deputies and officers have been placed on administrative leave.

The Riverside County district attorney’s office will investigate the shooting along with the Sheriff’s Department.