City Police Kill Robbery Suspect

A man suspected of robbing the Woolworth’s variety store in Fashion Valley was shot and killed by San Diego police Friday night after he was cornered in the parking lot and turned to police with a weapon as shoppers were frantically cleared from the scene.

The shooting involved five officers who were directed to the suspect by mall security officers, who followed him out of Woolworth’s, Lt. Paul Ybarrondo said.

Dozens of shoppers were heading for their cars at the time, and most were quickly shepherded away by security officers just before the shooting erupted. But one woman was apparently struck by flying debris and suffered a minor injury, Ybarrondo said.

The identity of the suspect was not known. His body lay prone alongside his Cadillac sedan, his wrists handcuffed behind him, in the parking lot south of the Broadway department store.

“We heard the shots, and we all flew,” said Shireen Atkinson, 23. “You’re heading toward your car and you hear shots. That’s weird.”

Michael Martin, a Border Patrol officer from El Centro who was doing some Christmas shopping with his wife, Natalie, said they were walking toward their car when they saw 10 or more police officers circling the suspect.

“I heard someone yell, ‘Put your hands up, where we can see them.’ They repeated it a couple of times,” Martin said. “There was quiet for maybe 10 seconds. Then, all of a sudden, five or six officers started shooting. There were maybe 30 shots. And then, just that quick, it was quiet.”

Police cordoned off the area, preventing access to more than 100 cars and frustrating shoppers, who were told they might not get to their vehicles for hours as the investigation into the shooting started.

Ybarrondo said the events began at 6:58 p.m. when officers got a call of an armed robbery at Woolworth’s. The thief, he said, apparently displayed a weapon in his waistband. It was unclear what he stole. The store manager at Woolworth’s refused to comment.

The first officers to arrive at the crowded parking lot were directed by mall security officers to the suspect’s car, Ybarrondo said.

“Officers converged on the car. Several of them saw a man in the car, with his feet outside the car, and his hands between his legs. They couldn’t see his hands,” Ybarrondo said.

By then, a police helicopter was hovering overhead, lighting the scene--and attracting spectators.

The suspect “was ordered to expose his hands and step out of the car,” Ybarrondo said. “He didn’t do it. The officers repeated their command. He said he didn’t have a gun, and then he told the officers to put down their weapons.”

They refused.

“He came out. There was a weapon in his hand. He pointed it at the officers. Several fired.”

The suspect apparently didn’t fire his weapon, and Ybarrondo said he was unsure what kind of weapon the man had.