VIDEO: Wild police chase ends with dramatic shootout, standoff in Vernon
VERNON, Calif. (KABC) -- A high-speed pursuit ended in a shootout and led to a tense standoff with a murder suspect in Vernon Friday.
The wild chase came to a close near the intersection of Downey Road and Bandini Boulevard about 2:45 p.m.
The incident began after Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and officers from the Downey and Bell Gardens police departments began pursuing a suspect in a black Toyota Prius.
Downey police said the man involved in the chase and standoff is believed to be the suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of a liquor store co-owner in Downey earlier in the week.
Police said they received tips that led them to a person of interest in Maywood. A man who appeared to be the suspect in the liquor store shooting was observed getting into a vehicle and a pursuit ensued, Lt. Kathleen Mendoza of the Downey Police Department said.
The suspect, on the passenger side, began firing out of the vehicle and at officers during the chase. After the Prius stopped behind a box truck alongside other vehicles, multiple officers opened fire at the suspect vehicle.
Two Downey police vehicles were struck by gunfire, but no officer was injured. A bystander also suffered a minor injury -- a graze wound -- during the shootout, police said.
The woman driver appeared to have blood on her pants when she surrendered to authorities and was transported with non-life threatening injuries. Officials did not comment on her relationship with the passenger.
Authorities deployed a robot, drone and a flash-bang as the standoff with the suspect in the vehicle continued.
A K-9 went inside the vehicle and apparently bit the suspect before authorities approached and pulled the passenger out of the vehicle. The suspect was struck by police gunfire multiple times and was transported to a nearby hospital for his injuries.
An investigation is ongoing.
