SAN DIEGO (AP) - San Diego police on Wednesday released a detailed account of a fatal police shooting of a 32-year-old man who refused to surrender after fleeing an apartment at a complex where a 62-year-old man had been shot.
The May 29 incident is being reviewed by the San Diego County district attorney’s office, among other local and federal agencies.
According to the San Diego Police Department account, the officers responded to reports of a shooting at an apartment complex where they found 62-year-old Juan Gudino Lopez with a gunshot wound. He later died at a hospital.
The officers were directed to an adjacent apartment where the suspect, Ronnie Kong, had fled.
Police said his mother had contacted the police earlier in the week after he threatened her with a firearm and fired several rounds from a handgun. Police were preparing an arrest warrant and a restraining order when they received the May 29 call. Kong’s mother told investigators her son wanted to be involved in a shooting with the police and be the victim of “suicide by cop.”
When Kong emerged from the apartment and was ordered to surrender, he refused and challenged police to come get him, according to the police account.
When he came out of the apartment again, Kong walked down the stairs and pointed a gun at police, they said.. Three officers fired, striking the man several times, according to the account.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and a firearm and knife were recovered.
“Approximately two hours and fifteen minutes had elapsed between the original call and the officer-involved shooting. During that time the officers repeatedly gave the suspect the opportunity to surrender,” police said.
The department identified the officers involved in the shooting as Christopher Luth, who has been on the force 15 years; Tony Maraschiello, who has been on the force six years; and Andrew Campbell, who has been on the force six years. Maraschiello and Campbell were serving on the SWAT team that day. They have been put on administrative leave.
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