Brother of domestic violence suspect shot, killed after pointing gun at Rialto officers

RIALTO, Calif. (KABC) -- Rialto police shot and killed the brother of a domestic violence suspect because they said he raised a loaded gun at them during a search for his sibling early Friday morning.

Police said around 1 a.m., officers responded to a home amid reports of domestic violence. They learned the suspect, Cesar Leonel Zamora, 35, fled the home before they arrived.

Authorities were able to confirm the female victim suffered injuries and that Zamora is suspected of committing several other felonies during the violence.

Officers then learned of another location in San Bernardino where Zamora may have gone. They arrived around 2:10 a.m. to a home in the 2800 block of West Birch Street.

When officers arrived and approached the front door, they knocked and announced their presence. Authorities said another man, identified as Hector Cisneros Soria, 30, answered the door while holding a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun.

When officers asked him to come outside, they said Soria refused and then chambered a round into the gun, raising it toward them.

The police officer closest to Soria fired his weapon before Soria could shoot, striking and killing him. Authorities later learned Soria was Zamora's brother.

Authorities said Zamora wasn't found at the home, but was taken into custody later during a traffic stop conducted by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies in the high desert.

The investigation was ongoing and the San Bernardino Police Department would handle parts of the investigation that occurred in their city.

Anyone with more information was urged to call Detective Cunningham at (909) 384-5745 or Sgt. Kokesh at (909) 384-5613.