A man died in an officer-involved shooting after deputies investigating a reported shooting pursued a fleeing suspect and later confronted him at the scene of a crash on Highway 58, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies were dispatched at about 5:30 p.m. April 10 to the 500 block of South Pepper Drive for a report of a shooting, according to a sheriff’s office critical incident release.

When deputies arrived, the suspect fled, prompting a pursuit that lasted several minutes before deputies ended it because of unsafe driving conditions, authorities said.

Investigators later learned the suspect vehicle was involved in a traffic collision at about 6 p.m. on eastbound Highway 58 east of Weedpatch Highway. Around the same time, a gunshot victim was privately transported to a hospital, and investigators determined the injury was connected to the original shooting report, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies responding to the crash scene attempted to contact the suspect, and an officer-involved shooting occurred during that encounter, authorities said. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

No deputies were injured, the sheriff’s office said.

The name of the suspect has not been released at this time.

Investigating the Shooting

Kern County Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives took over the investigation. Authorities said a Homeland Security Investigations agent assigned to a gang task force was riding with a deputy at the time of the shooting.

The sheriff’s office said all uses of deadly force by department members are investigated and submitted to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office for criminal review. The FBI conducted a separate investigation into the HSI agent’s use of force.

Deputy Javarest Dillard and Senior Deputy Issac Azua were placed on routine critical incident leave pending the investigation.

On May 13, the sheriff’s office convened an Incident Review Board to examine the deputies’ use of force. The board determined the force used in the incident was within department policy.

Got a Tip?

Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Office at (661) 861-3110 or Kern Secret Witness at (661) 322-4040.

—

Connect with Anthony W. Haddad on social media. Got a tip? Send an email.