Teen-Age Boy Is Shot by CHP After Freeway Chase

A teen-age boy who told a friend he was suicidal was shot and killed by California Highway Patrol officers after a 2 1/2-hour, high-speed chase through the Inland Empire, authorities said Friday.

The victim was identified by the CHP as Dennis Rippey Jr., 17, of Cherry Valley. He was shot by five CHP officers after he jumped out of his disabled car, reached into his waistband and lunged at officers, said CHP Officer Bryan Baker.

“If he had lunged at the officers with open hands, that would have been one thing, but all the officers all thought the same thing--that he was reaching for a concealed weapon--and they all fired to stop that threat,” Baker said. Rippey was not armed.

The incident began Thursday evening when Banning police attempted to stop Rippey for a violation. A passenger jumped out and Rippey sped off, leading the patrol car and, in time, half a dozen CHP units on a chase along Interstates 10, 215, 15 and back onto I-10 to Beaumont.