Suspected Gunman Is Caught After Standoff : Crime: Off-duty officer gives chase after unexplained shootings in Oceanside.

An off-duty Oceanside police officer who was on his way to work captured a suspected gunman Wednesday after a car chase and a tense standoff that had them aiming their guns at each other at close range.

Police are holding Tomas Gonzalez, 39, of Fallbrook for attempted homicide after he allegedly shot Pablo Latron, 20, address unknown, several times in the chest with a small-caliber weapon. Police said Latron was in “grave condition” at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.

A woman, whom witnesses said was Latron’s sister, was treated at Palomar for a hip wound and released.

Police said they knew of no motives for the shootings.

They gave the following account:

Sgt. Rich DeRouen was buying gas at about 1:45 p.m. at a convenience store at Mission Avenue and Mesa Drive in Oceanside when he heard several shots.

“I heard what sounded like firecrackers,” DeRouen said. “When I looked in that direction, I could see a person was armed with a handgun and that people were fleeing the area.”

Gonzalez allegedly jumped into a waiting sports car, but DeRouen, who had his 22-year-old son in his car, maneuvered his vehicle to block the car’s path.

“The gunman then pointed his gun at me, so I ducked down, pushing my son’s head down as well,” DeRouen said.

The gunman and the driver of the sports car, whose name police did not release, maneuvered around DeRouen’s car and out of the parking lot.

DeRouen gave chase while his son, Ron Montgomery, tried to open his father’s briefcase to retrieve a service revolver.

The mile-long chase through residential areas of Oceanside ended in the 400 block of Greenbrier Drive, with De Rouen’s car pulling up beside Gonzalez’s.

Montgomery scrambled to the back seat while his father, having retrieved his revolver, got out of the car.

“The passenger exited his car and attempted to engage me by drawing his weapon and pointing it at me,” DeRouen said.

“At that point, I was worried about my son more than anything, so I moved around my vehicle in such a way that I kept (Gonzalez’s) attention on me,” DeRouen said.

DeRouen moved to the rear of his car, using it as a shield from Gonzalez.

“He was just trying to find me, and I was just trying to stay at a low enough profile until I could get to him,” DeRouen said.

DeRouen eventually maneuvered to the rear of Gonzalez’s car and confronted him.

“I pointed my weapon at him, identified myself as an officer and ordered him to drop the weapon,” DeRouen said. “I made it quite certain to him that I was willing to follow through if he did not drop the weapon.”

Gonzalez, after a slight hesitation, dropped the gun, and DeRouen detained both him and the driver.

“I’m happy to be alive. I feel very lucky in the sense that the initial instance when I had him blocked in, he could have had me,” DeRouen said.