Suicide Possibility Probed : 1 Dead, 1 Wounded in Police Shootings

In two separate overnight shootings involving San Diego police, a Pacific Beach robbery suspect was shot in the head and a woman in North Park was shot by police but may have died of a self-inflicted wound, police said.

A spokesman for the San Diego County coroner’s office said Saturday that an investigation to determine whether Loretta Elmore, 27, was killed by police bullets or died of a self-inflicted bullet wound to the head probably will not be completed until Monday.

The shooting occurred after police were called to the 4300 block of Iowa Street about 10 p.m. Friday to investigate a report that Elmore, who had a handgun, was banging on the door of a male acquaintance, verbally threatening a female inside.

When the officers ordered Elmore to surrender, she refused and pointed her weapon at them, according to police. One officer fired twice at Elmore, whose gun also discharged.

Elmore, who suffered a leg wound besides the head wound, died at Mercy Hospital.

In the second incident, a 43-year-old robbery suspect was shot by police early Saturday morning in Pacific Beach when officers thought he was reaching for a weapon in a pickup truck in which he was a passenger.

Officers had stopped the truck about 1:30 a.m. near Ingraham Street and Grand Avenue because it matched the description of the vehicle used earlier in a nearby armed robbery.

Though the truck’s driver, 24-year-old Richard Pukala, surrendered immediately, the passenger, George Jimenez, refused to leave the vehicle, police said. When a police dog approached the truck, Jimenez reached between the seats and officers, believing he was reaching for a weapon, fired, striking him in the head.

Jimenez, who was listed in stable condition at Scripps Hospital late Saturday, and Pukala, who is in county jail, are being held on suspicion of robbery, police said.