On Sunday, May 3, 2020 at approximately 9:27 pm, a Fullerton Police Officer was driving eastbound on Commonwealth Ave near Lillie, on his way to an unrelated call for service, when two male adults caught his attention. Both males were near a pickup truck and one male was armed with a stick and the other male was armed with a knife.
It appeared the two males were having some sort of argument. The initial Officer contacted both males to investigate what was occurring, and he requested additional officers for assistance.
After repeated commands, the male with the stick dropped his weapon and began walking away. He was contacted by other Officers and detained.
The other male exited the truck and walked at Officers armed with a knife. Despite repeated commands to stop and drop the knife, he continued to advance towards the officers. A less-than lethal shotgun was deployed. This caused the male to turn his attention to the Officers who were detaining the other male who had been armed with the stick. The male with the knife walked toward those Officers, again ignoring repeated commands to stop and drop the knife. As he neared the Officers, an officer involved shooting occurred. The suspect stopped his advance.
Officers immediately began First Aid/CPR. They were relieved by members of the Fullerton Fire Department. The suspect was taken to a local trauma center and was pronounced deceased shortly after 10:00 pm.
A knife was recovered at the scene in close proximity the suspect (see photo above).
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the Officer Involved Shooting, as is standard protocol. Fullerton Police Detectives will be investigating potential criminal acts by the suspects.
Investigators are working to confirm the identity of the deceased and information will be released pending notification of next of kin.
This investigation is on-going. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Fullerton PD at (714) 738-6800. Those wishing to provide information anonymously can call the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1(855) TIP-OCCS.
