Critically injured Redlands hostage was wounded by police gunfire

Redlands police officers train guns on a man who had taken his ex-girlfriend hostage outside an Office Depot store March 24. The woman was shot and wounded by police. The man was killed by police.

April 1, 2016 3:59 PM PT

A woman who was held at gunpoint by her ex-boyfriend for more than two hours in Redlands last week was shot and critically injured by police officers who were trying to free her, authorities said.

Redlands Police Chief Mark Garcia, speaking at a news conference Friday, provided a detailed account of the March 24 shooting, which left the ex-boyfriend dead. It was initially believed that the woman was shot by her captor, not police.

The hostage situation was the culmination of a dramatic series of events inside and outside an Office Depot on Orange Street. That afternoon, 29-year-old Andrew Mike of Downey entered the store, where Kristin Bauer, 28, of Corona worked. Bauer had recently broken up with Mike, Garcia said.

“Seeking to avoid a scene,” Bauer followed Mike to the parking lot and got into his car. He pulled out a handgun, put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger, but it didn’t fire, Garcia said.

Mike then drove out of the parking lot, with Bauer in the vehicle. While driving, he fired his gun toward Bauer, striking the passenger door, the police chief said. He also tried unsuccessfully to inject her with a syringe containing an unknown substance, Garcia said.

Mike eventually returned to the Office Depot, and they went back into the store. Mike “physically restrained Kristin while holding her at gunpoint,” Garcia said. Another man who tried to help her was shot in the hand by Mike, police said.

After police arrived on the scene, Mike held Bauer at gunpoint for more than two hours as police negotiators tried to talk to him. He repeatedly told Bauer that he would kill her and told police officers that “he was ready to die that day,” Garcia said.

Then, “Mike made a sudden move, pulling Kristin back as a shield and pushing the gun into her back,” Garcia said. “Believing the hostage was in imminent danger, officers made a split-second decision, firing multiple rounds at the suspect in an attempt to save Kristin’s life.”

Mike was struck and killed. Bauer was also shot once in the torso.

Eleven officers fired 25 rounds, he said. Nine were officers with the Redlands Police Department, and two were San Bernardino police officers.

Garcia said he spoke to Bauer on Friday morning and told her investigators had determined she was shot by an officer, not Mike.

“After meeting with Kristin again this morning, I am encouraged by her recovery,” Garcia said. “I pray for her continued recovery, and the Redlands Police Department and I will continue to do all we can to assist her as she heals.”

Bauer remains at Loma Linda University Medical Center in serious condition, the San Bernardino Sun reported.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Follow me at @haileybranson / Google+

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