Fallbrook

A man believed to be an illegal alien from Mexico was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy Saturday night during an attempted burglary in a car wash, deputies reported.

The victim, who coroner’s deputies said was probably in his late teens or early 20s, was shot in the chest and the arm when he charged a sheriff’s deputy from a rear room of the car wash in the 200 block of E. Alvarado Street about 11:30 p.m.

According to deputies, Deputy Edwin Puett arrived at the scene and found a suspect in the front office. That suspect fled, but another suspect, Manuel Lopez, 18, was taken into custody at the rear of the business.

Puett and another officer were placing Lopez in the patrol car when they heard a noise from the back of the car wash. When Puett opened a back door to the business, deputies said, the victim bolted toward Puett and Puett fired.

The gunshot victim was taken to Fallbrook Hospital, where he died about 12:30 p.m., coroner’s deputies said.

Lopez was taken to Vista Jail on suspicion of burglary and was held on $2,000 bail.

No weapons were recovered at the scene and homicide detectives were investigating.