Anaheim Police Provide Details of Shooting

A man shot to death by Anaheim police this week was engaged in unspecified “criminal activity” during which he tried to ram an officer with a pickup, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

In the department’s first detailed comments on the incident, Sgt. Rick Martinez said that Frank Carillo, 28, of Santa Ana died at Anaheim Memorial Medical Center on Monday shortly after being shot by Officer Edward Ruiz, an 11-year veteran of the department.

Oscar Mendez, 25, also of Santa Ana, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the torso, Martinez said.

“We received some criticism for not releasing this information earlier,” he said of the shooting near La Palma and Onondaga avenues, “but we still had witnesses to interview today.”

Martinez said the incident began when Ruiz and an unidentified partner observed what they believed to be “criminal activity” in an alleyway where Carillo and Mendez were seated in the pickup and talking to a man standing next to its cab.

As the officers approached, Martinez said, the man bolted into an apartment complex while Carillo slammed the truck in reverse and accelerated in an apparent attempt to escape.

After hitting a parked car about two blocks away, Martinez said, Carillo reversed direction and accelerated toward Ruiz, who fired at least two shots at the truck. Police later found a loaded .45-caliber pistol on the ground next to the driver’s door, Martinez said.

The incident is being investigated by the Orange County district attorney’s office, he said, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.

Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this report.