An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer after allegedly opening fire on deputies in Thermal, authorities said Sunday.
Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Thermal station responded to a report of a shooting into an inhabited building in the 88000 block of Avenue 70 at 9:50 p.m. Friday. While they were at the scene, a vehicle drove onto the street and an occupant allegedly fired multiple rounds in the direction of the deputies, striking one of the patrol vehicles.
No deputies were injured, and the deputies did not return fire, according to the sheriff’s department.
Deputies initiated a pursuit of the suspect vehicle, but lost sight of it. Shortly after, deputies located an abandoned vehicle matching the suspect vehicle’s description in the 63000 block of Landon Lane in Thermal. They conducted a search of the area and located a man identified as Gustavo Barrera Pena of Thermal.
Pena allegedly fled on foot, but was ultimately detained. He was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer and for allegedly discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling. He was being held on $1 million bail, and is expected to appear in court Wednesday at the Indio Larson Justice Center
Investigators also believe there is at least one outstanding suspect who is currently unidentified.
Anyone with additional information about the case was encouraged to contact Mater Investigator R. Ramirez or Sr. District Attorney Investigator E. Crosson at 951-955-2777.