Pasadena Police Fatally Shoot Pursuit Suspect, Officer Injured

PASADENA (CBSLA) — A slow-moving pursuit came to a deadly end Friday at Allen Avenue and Corson Street in Pasadena.

Police said it all started at 3:10 p.m. when officers tried to stop a driver, who they said was acting suspiciously, for a traffic violation.

When the driver refused to stop, officers followed him for about 20 minutes in the area on surface streets.

“It was low speed, so at the time I had no idea that it was even a pursuit,” Duke, a Pasadena resident, said. “I just seen all these cops. It was probably 10 or 15 cop cars.”

Investigators said officers terminated the pursuit at one point, but decided to reinitiate it.

“We saw there was safety concerns of the driver going through intersections, and so we were concerned for the public,” Pasadena Police Chief John Perez said. “So, at that point, we did a PIT maneuver to stop the driver from driving.”

When the car finally came to a stop, police said the driver fired at officers who then returned fire. The suspect was killed at the scene and an officer was shot in the leg.

“We have multiple guns recovered at the scene that appear to have belonged to the driver of the car,” Perez said.

Police set up a perimeter around the crime scene as investigators collected evidence to determine how many shots were fired in the exchange.

“That’s scary, absolutely,” Duke said. “You know, innocent people can get hurt. There’s no doubt about it.”

Perez said the officer who was shot was in serious, but stable, condition and was scheduled to go into surgery Friday night.

The suspect’s identity was not immediately disclosed.