Man Fatally Shot in Fight With Police Identified

Authorities on Sunday identified the man who was shot to death in a gun battle with police officers on busy Harbor Boulevard during the weekend. But police declined to identify the officer wounded in the street shooting or to release any detailed information on how and why the incident occurred.

The fatally shot man was Jamie Michael Rubio, 20, of Huntington Beach.

Rubio was pronounced dead at UCI Medical Center shortly after the gunfight at 7:38 p.m. Saturday on Harbor Boulevard just south of the San Diego Freeway.

Police and witnesses at the scene said Rubio and several officers exchanged gunfire on the street.

One of the officers suffered a gunshot wound. He was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where his condition on Sunday was reported as stable.

Police declined to identify the wounded officer. “The officer . . . is in stable condition following surgery,” Sgt. Bob Baumgardner said. He said no additional information about the officer could be released.

The wounded Costa Mesa police officer’s wife is an officer with the Monterey Park Police in Los Angeles County. Police in Monterey Park on Sunday said the officer was on duty when her husband was shot and wounded. She was immediately relieved from duty, Monterey Park police said, and rushed to the hospital to be with her husband. Officers in Monterey Park, as in Costa Mesa, declined to identify the couple.

Details of the events leading up to the shooting remain a mystery.

Witnesses said police were questioning some young men on Harbor Boulevard, near the International House of Pancakes Restaurant at the intersection of Harbor and Date Place. The site is about a block south of the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway.

“Officers . . . were engaged in a credit card investigation,” Baumgardner said. “I don’t know any details about the credit card investigation.”

Baumgardner said he could only release information from a prepared press release on the incident. That press release said: “A male adult armed with a handgun and Costa Mesa Police Department officers exchanged gunfire.”

Baumgardner later identified the male adult as Rubio.

According to witnesses, a barrage of gunshots erupted on the street. Pools of dried blood remained on the sidewalk Sunday near the intersection of Date Place and Harbor.

No information was available on how many shots were fired or how many times Rubio and the unidentified police officer were struck.

An autopsy on the body of Rubio was conducted on Sunday, but the Orange County coroner’s office said results could only be released through the Costa Mesa Police Department.