WESTMINSTER : CHP Ruled Justified in Killing Suspect
California Highway Patrol officers were justified in their fatal shooting of a murder suspect who led them on a 300-mile chase that ended on a freeway off-ramp in Westminster, authorities said.
On Jan. 3, Darren Michael Stroh, 22, allegedly killed a man in Merced County and stole his car to continue a trip to San Diego, authorities said.
CHP officers began trailing Stroh through the Central Valley and finally to the Golden West Street off-ramp of the San Diego Freeway, where his car apparently ran out of gas.
The CHP said officers ordered Stroh to get out of his car. After a moment’s hesitation, Stroh aimed a shotgun at one of the officers, and two patrolmen opened fire, killing him instantly, investigators said.
As is routine in all officer-involved shootings, the incident was investigated by an outside law enforcement agency. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department forwarded its investigation to the Orange County district attorney’s office at the end of February, Lt. Richard J. Olson said.
After a review of the sheriff’s investigation, the district attorney’s office declared the shooting “an act of justifiable homicide.”
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