A man who police said produced a gun after attempting to flee from the Riverside County Regional Gang Task Force in the unincorporated Valle Vista area bordering Hemet was shot by a Hemet Police Department officer, authorities said Friday.
Task force officers were in the area of Florida and Fairview avenues at 7:29 p.m. Thursday when they observed the man, who ran away from the officers as they approached him. As the officers pursued the suspect on foot, he drew a gun and was shot by the officers, said Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The suspect was given first aid at the scene until paramedics with the Riverside County Fire Department arrived. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, Brito-Gonzalez said.
No officers were injured during the shooting.
An investigator from the Riverside County District Attorney’s office who is assigned to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Force Investigation Detail will lead this investigation, Brito-Gonzalez said.
Anyone with information regarding this shooting was asked to call the Riverside County Sheriff’s Master Investigator Jarred Bishop or Riverside County District Attorney Investigator Eric Crosson at 951-955-2777.