Coroner’s officials Saturday released the name of an armed robbery suspect who was shot dead in Palmdale in a deputy-involved shooting that began with a pursuit involving the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The shooting victim was identified as Shalun Dique Smith of Palmdale, 21, said Investigator Joyce Kato of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.
San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies located a vehicle around 8:05 p.m. Wednesday in Adelanto with four armed males inside suspected of having just committed a robbery at a Victorville cell phone store, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported.
The driver failed to stop and a chase ensued, with the suspects “traveling recklessly on various highways at high rates of speed, and at times, on the wrong side of the road,” said Deputy Trina Schrader of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which assisted in the investigation.
The pursuit ended in the area of 48th Street East at East Avenue R-8 after deputies initiated a pit maneuver, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 8:50 p.m. Wednesday in that area, Schrader said.
Smith was struck by gunfire and died at the scene, Schrader said. The three other suspects fled the vehicle into the surrounding neighborhood and were eventually taken into custody, authorities said.
—City News Service