A man was fatally shot by Anaheim police Wednesday night following a dramatic, high-speed pursuit that ended when he crashed his truck on a bridge over the Santa Ana River, authorities said.
The incident began shortly after 7:45 p.m. in the Orange County city when officers responded to a shooting at a motel in the 300 block of North Brookhurst Street, according to Anaheim Police Sgt. Matt Sutter. The victim of the motel shooting, an adult man, was transported to a hospital in stable condition.
The suspected shooter fled and, within minutes, police initiated a pursuit, Sutter said.
He led officers on a wild chase — blowing through intersections, striking other vehicles, weaving through traffic and even losing a tire, according to helicopter footage captured by KTLA News.
The man was seen racing along the 91 Freeway in a white pickup truck before zooming onto surface streets, where police officers made several unsuccessful attempts to halt the truck, the station reported.
After an almost hourlong chase, the pursuit ended near West Memory Lane and North Bristol Street, Sutter said, which is around eight miles from the scene of the shooting.
Police, pre-positioned on a bridge over the Santa Ana River, executed a PIT maneuver, strategically hitting the side of the suspect’s truck, causing it to careen into a guard rail. It then bounced back into the road where it crashed into a bridge divider and came to rest, according to KTLA.
As smokes poured out of the vehicle, officers rushed to surround it. Police opened fire at 8:38 p.m. and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene, Sutter said.
A passenger in the car surrendered to police and was escorted away, KTLA reported.
Information on the suspect and shooting victim’s identities was not immediately available.
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