A man is in critical condition after an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy shot and attacked him multiple times in Lake Forest Friday morning, authorities said.
At approximately 2:30 a.m., deputies responded to a call that a man was causing a disturbance at a home in Rancho Mission Viejo, where his ex-girlfriend was staying.
Authorities said the woman’s current boyfriend opened the door and saw another man reach into his waistband and fled the scene moments later.
“The boyfriend did not see any weapon at that time,” said Sgt. Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Gerard McCann. “As deputies arrived, they reviewed the security footage and saw that the suspect did indeed have a handgun and was brandishing it.”
Deputies later found the man, identified only as a man in his 20s, in his vehicle in the 21000 block of Rimgate Drive, a suburban residential neighborhood in Lake Forest.
A small vehicle pursuit ensued until the man stopped, got out and ran toward the deputy, authorities said.
Deputies responded to the suspect’s gunfire at 3:50 a.m. and rendered medical aid. Paramedics transferred him to a nearby hospital where he remains in critical condition.
Authorities said they recovered a large serrated kitchen knife, a semi-automatic handgun and an ammunition magazine at the scene.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is investigating, as is routine procedure in such shootings. The Sheriff’s Department is also conducting an internal administrative review.
None of the deputies were injured. The person who made the disturbance call and his girlfriend also escaped safely.
