Officer slain, 1 hurt on San Diego street

A San Diego Harbor Police officer helps to secure the scene Thursday near the corner of 39th Street and Boston Avenue in San Diego near where two San Diego Police officers were shot.
A San Diego Harbor Police officer helps to secure the scene Thursday near the corner of 39th Street and Boston Avenue in San Diego near where two San Diego Police officers were shot.

SAN DIEGO -- Two San Diego police officers were shot -- one fatally -- after a traffic stop turned into a gunfight late Thursday night.

The shootings triggered a manhunt, leading to the capture Friday of a wounded suspect in a ravine and an hourslong SWAT standoff that ended after officers detained a second man whose connection to the shooting remained unclear.

The shooting came as departments around the country are on high alert after the killings of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge this month. San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said it was unknown whether the San Diego attack was premeditated.

The chain of events unfolded over more than 12 hours after 11 p.m. Thursday, when two veteran gang-unit officers in bulle-resistant vests stopped a person on a street. Almost immediately a shootout ensued and the officers called for backup.

"It happened extremely quickly," Zimmerman said. "From the information that was put out that a stop was being made, to that the officers called for emergency cover, to when the other officers arrived on scene, we're talking very, very quickly. Seconds to a minute or so."

Jonathan DeGuzman, a 16-year veteran of the force who was married with two children, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. DeGuzman, 43, died at Scripps Mercy Hospital after doctors' efforts to save him failed.

Wade Irwin, 32, underwent surgery after being shot and was expected to survive, Zimmerman said.

Police swarmed the neighborhood where the shootout happened and quickly captured 52-year-old Jesse Gomez in a nearby ravine, Zimmerman said. He was in critical condition Friday with a gunshot wound but was expected to survive. Police gave no further information about Gomez or his possible role in the shootout except to say he was a suspect.

During the search for a second man described as a "potential" suspect, residents were ordered to stay in their homes throughout the night as San Diego police and officers from other law enforcement agencies scoured yards, streets and alleys. A helicopter hovered over the neighborhood.

About nine hours after the shootout, heavily armed officers surrounded a house about a half-mile away, one of them using a loudspeaker to urge a man to surrender. Authorities also detonated several devices at the scene to draw him out and used tools to break windows and pound on the roof.

Then, about a dozen heavily armed SWAT officers raced another house about two blocks away, positioning an armored truck and robots outside. The possible suspect wasn't there either.

Zimmerman said late Friday afternoon that officers arrested a man in the area on an unrelated warrant.

She said police were investigating to see whether 41-year-old Marcus Antonio Cassani had any role in the police shootings.

After visiting Irwin at the University of California San Diego Medical Center early Friday, Zimmerman told reporters that the officer's prospects for recovery were good. The nine-year veteran of the force had just joined the gang unit in June.

Earlier, Zimmerman told reporters she knew DeGuzman well.

"I can tell you he is a loving, caring husband, father," Zimmerman said. "He came to work every single day wanting to just make a positive difference in the lives of our community and that's why he lost his life."

DeGuzman received a decoration in 2003 after he was stabbed by a man he had stopped for speeding. The man was convicted of attempted murder on a peace officer in 2004.

A Section on 07/30/2016

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