A San Diego police officer fatally shot an ax-wielding man who had reportedly vandalized a trolley before approaching the officer in the Morena area Wednesday afternoon, a sheriff’s homicide lieutenant said.
The incident started with a report from trolley officials that a man with an ax was vandalizing a trolley at the Linda Vista Road station near Morena Boulevard about 3:20 p.m., sheriff’s Lt. Juan Marquez said. The Sheriff’s Office investigates shootings by San Diego police officers as part of a countywide agreement to prevent agencies from investigating themselves.
Police scoured the area looking for a suspect. An officer in a patrol vehicle located a man with an ax about 3:35 p.m. on Friars Road near the Interstate 5 overpass, Marquez said in an interview with freelance photographer Ed Baier, who provided the video footage to local media outlets. The overpass runs over the San Diego River in that area.
Marquez said the officer got out of his vehicle to make contact with the man.
“The individual was armed with an ax and approached the officer,” Marquez said.
The officer opened fire, shooting “multiple rounds” and striking the man, he said. The lieutenant said the officer administered life-saving measures, but the man died at the scene about 4:10 p.m.
The officer was not injured in the incident, Marquez said.
Authorities did not release the names of those involved.
It is not clear what damage the trolley may have sustained. Marquez said the vehicle had been in service and was gone by the time police arrived at the scene.
Friars Road was closed as authorities investigated the shooting.
Staff writer Alexandra Mendoza contributed to this report.