The incident began about 60 miles away in Yucca Valley when authorities received a call of shots fired at the Town Center Mall parking lot just after 11:40 a.m. When San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, they found a fatal shooting victim inside a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head.
Police have not revealed a motive for the shooting, but according to a store manager nearby, it was an attempted carjacking. "This man, they were trying to take his car, and they were banging on the window for him to let them in, and he would not do it," the store manager said. "He tried to drive away, and they shot him in the head."Investigators received information that the suspects got away in a dark gray sedan. A short time later, deputies and California Highway Patrol officers spotted the suspect vehicle in Morongo Valley, and a pursuit began near Highway 62 and Interstate 10. The suspects fled on Interstate 10, traveling at a high rate of speed before exiting the freeway at Waterman Avenue.
The suspects crashed into a curb near Hospitality Lane and Carnegie Drive and fled the vehicle on foot. At least one of them opened fire at deputies and a CHP officer. Police returned fire, hitting both suspects. One suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, and the second was transported to a local hospital in unknown condition.
A CHP officer was also shot and wounded, but authorities say he is OK. He was taken to Loma Linda Hospital in stable condition.
An Omnitrans bus was hit by one round, but no one on the bus was injured.
