- A Feb. 18 traffic stop in San Marcos escalated when a passenger allegedly drew a handgun and opened fire at San Diego sheriff’s deputies and a Palomar College reserve police officer, who fatally shoot the suspect.
- A deputy had stopped the vehicle after noticing inconsistent registration information and signs the vehicle might be stolen.
- No deputies were injured in the shooting, and the incident is under investigation.
- A suspect armed with two knives and accused of holding three people at knifepoint lunged at Buffalo police officers, who deployed a Taser multiple times before fatally shooting the man.
A traffic stop turned violent last month when an armed passenger opened fire on California deputies before he was fatally shot.
The incident happened just after 9 p.m. Feb. 18 when a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy pulled over a vehicle in San Marcos for a code violation, the agency stated in a news release, which included body camera and other footage from the stop. The deputy believed the vehicle was possibly stolen after noticing the steering column was damaged and discovering its registration records didn’t match.
When more deputies and a Palomar College reserve police officer arrived at the scene, the vehicle’s 33-year-old passenger—later identified as Andre Raphael Mendez—rolled up his window before grabbing a semiautomatic handgun from the floorboard…