At least one San Diego County sheriff’s deputy shot a person Sunday afternoon at a crowded outdoor market near the Imperial Beach pier, according to the Sheriff’s Office and witnesses at the scene.
The shooting happened a little before 1:40 p.m. along the sidewalk of the Portwood Pier Plaza at Evergreen Avenue and Seacoast Drive, according to information provided by the Sheriff’s Office. Footage from the shooting scene showed blood on the sidewalk near the Imperial Beach sign that leads to the pier.
Officials did not immediately say how many deputies were involved in the shooting or provide the condition of the person who was shot. They also did not say what led up to the shooting. “There is no danger to the community,” the Sheriff’s Office posted on the social media site X.
Imperial Beach Fire Chief John French told City News Service that his department’s paramedics took the gunshot victim to UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest.
One witness who declined to give his name told Sideo, a freelance news videography service, that the person who was shot was a man who was holding a souvenir-style knife made from black volcanic rock called obsidian. The witness said the knife appeared to be about 3 to 4 inches long.
The witness said he didn’t know how the altercation began, but said he saw the man repeatedly “lunging” at the deputies from a distance. He said he initially believed the deputy who shot the man had pulled out a Taser or stun-gun device. He said the deputy fired four or five times.
“It was unfortunate because I saw that it was avoidable,” the witness said.
Footage from Sideo showed an electric or motorized bicycle tipped on its side close to the shooting scene. Another witness, Toni Battle, told Sideo the man who was shot had passed by on the bicycle shortly before the gunshots rang out.
Battle said she saw deputies performing CPR on the man after the shooting. She said paramedics arrived and took off with the man who was shot.
Battle criticized the deputies for opening fire so close to the crowded, family-friendly farmers market.
“Our kids are here,” she said. “You couldn’t have found a better method? … You got Tasers, you got bean(bag) guns. I don’t understand that.”
The San Diego Police Department is investigating the shooting under a countywide agreement that prevents law enforcement agencies from investigating shootings involving their own officers or deputies.