Officer Firing at Fleeing Vehicle Misses Driver, Kills Female Passenger and Her Dog Instead
El Cajon, CA — In yet another tragic case of an officer fearing for his life from a fleeing car, a woman and a dog have been killed.
Early Saturday morning, police spotted a stolen red Toyota and pulled over the vehicle. Inside the car were three men, a woman and a dog. As the officer approached the vehicle, it sped off before he could get to them and led police on a high-speed chase.
Eventually, the car was cornered in a cul-de-sac and came to a halt. As the officer exited his vehicle, according to the El Cahon Police Department, the driver then sped toward the officer. ‘Fearing for his life,’ the officer fired four rounds into the vehicle.
The driver was not hit, which means that if he actually intended to run over the officer, that he could have done so. However, the passenger in the vehicle, a 25-year-old unidentified woman and a dog, were both hit — and killed.
Even after the shots were fired, the driver continued on until he eventually crashed into another police car that was arriving on scene.
According to NBC San Diego,
Officers swarmed the suspects’ car and arrested three men who were inside. The female passenger who was shot was taken to a local hospital. She died a short time later from injuries suffered in the officer-involved shooting, the police department confirmed. According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office, she was 25 years old. She has not yet been identified.
According to the ECPD, the driver was arrested for attempted murder on a police officer and the other two passengers were arrested for drug-related crimes. The ECPD also said that the unidentified victim had a warrant for her arrest, but have not released any details on said warrants.
No officers were reported injured in the incident.
Our request for comment on this case to the ECPD were not immediately returned.
Officers killing people for attempting to drive away is becoming an all too common occurrence.
Seneca Police Lt. Mark Tiller made the same assertion when he shot and killed 19-year-old Zachary Hammond over the possession of a small amount of marijuana. Officer Ray Tensing was caught on video killing Sam Dubose in a similar fashion. In September, cellphone footage was released showing police murdering 33-year-old John Barry, a mentally ill man who attempted to flee from police during a breakdown.
One of the most disgusting examples of cops claiming to fear for their lives as cars drive off is the case of Officers Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse, Jr., who, in November, opened fire on a car occupied by 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis, killing him and severely injuring his father.
