Driver Shot, Killed Trying to Hit Police, Officials Say

Two Westminster police officers shot and killed a man early Monday after he tried to run them over in a stolen car, police said.

The veteran officers, whose names the department would not release, were not injured.

The man died at the scene from gunshot wounds to the neck and torso, police said. His identity was not released pending notification of relatives.

The officers were responding to a car burglary about 12:30 a.m. at Belgrade Street and Bishop Place when they noticed the man, who matched the suspect’s description, sitting in a Ford Explorer with the engine running, said Westminster Police Lt. Mitch Waller.

“We don’t know whether he was there participating in the burglary or if he was there for some other reason,” Sgt. Al Panella said. “He was in the area where this burglary just occurred, and they just wanted to talk to him.”

When officers checked the license plate number, they discovered it was stolen and ordered the suspect to get out. The man instead stepped on the accelerator and hit the car parked in front of him, police said. Officers continued to order him to stop, but he veered the car toward one of the officers, police said. Both officers fired at the man, who was unarmed, police said.

“We’re considering his car as a weapon because he used it that way against the officers,” Panella said. “He tried to back up into one and run over the other.”

Panella said it was unknown whether the man stole the Explorer on Dec. 11 while it was parked at an apartment complex at Ellis Avenue and Delaware Street in Huntington Beach. The suspect in that burglary broke into an apartment and stole a purse and car keys before fleeing with the Explorer, police said.

The district attorney’s office is investigating the shooting, which is standard in officer-involved shootings.