La Mesa
The California Highway Patrol determined Friday that the shooting of a suspected motorcycle thief by a CHP officer was intentional, a spokesman for the agency said.
Howard Gayne Grefsheim, 24, was shot Wednesday by Officer Doug Kennedy about 4:15 p.m., after Grefsheim grabbed for the officer’s gun, said Lt. Carl Wirtz of the CHP’s investigations division. He said Kennedy shot Grefsheim during a struggle.
“The guy did resist,” Wirtz said. “The subject was confronted in the boat, and he physically resisted.”
Kennedy discovered Grefsheim hiding inside a boat parked in a yard in the 5100 block of Guava Avenue in La Mesa, the CHP said.
Kennedy covered Grefsheim with his gun while a La Mesa police officer, whose name was not released, tried to pull Grefsheim from the boat, Wirtz said, adding that Grefsheim, who was unarmed, suddenly grabbed for the weapon.
Grefsheim was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he remained in serious condition Friday night with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
He faces an auto-theft charge when he is released from the hospital, Wirtz said.
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