STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) – Authorities in California say a man’s attempt at vigilante justice led to him mistakenly shooting at law enforcement.
It all unfolded last Thursday in San Joaquin County.
Deputies initially responded to an alarm at the Pick-n-Pull store on Clark Drive in Stockton at around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
“There were three subjects running from the business through the yard, and so we set up a perimeter around the business and we’re getting our drone up in the air and getting our K-9s in and trying to catch the bad guys that were trying to steal stuff,” San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow described.
As deputies were getting into their positions, a man who lives in the area called his grandson and said he saw three men run across his front porch.
“So, he came down on a golf cart with his assault rifle to help his grandfather, who had called him and said there were bad guys at his house,” Withrow explained.
The sheriff says that was the suspect’s first mistake.
“Neither the grandfather or he called law enforcement to say, ‘Hey, look. Somebody is at my grandfather’s house and I’m going to go down there to protect my grandfather,’ fearing for his safety,” Withrow added.
The man then came across who he thought were the suspects from the Pick-n-Pull, but they were actually deputies.
“All of a sudden from behind, somebody started shooting at them and, thankfully, both the officers were near a concrete cylinder wall,” Withrow said.
The suspect fired two rounds before those deputies could identify themselves.
“Instead of instantly returning fire, they started yelling commands to drop the firearm, which, thankfully, the subject did immediately,” the sheriff added.
That suspect was taken into custody and no one was injured in the situation.
“Thankfully, none of the charges are murder or attempted murder at this time. He’s being charged with assault with a deadly weapon,” Withrow stated.
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