Anaheim police fatally shot a man Wednesday night after a high-speed pursuit that ended when he crashed his truck on a bridge over the Santa Ana River, authorities said.
The chase began shortly after 7:45 p.m. when officers responded to a shooting at a motel in the 300 block of North Brookhurst Street, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Matt Sutter. The victim of the motel shooting, a man, was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
The suspected shooter drove away and police pursued him, Sutter said.
He led officers on a wild chase — blowing through intersections, striking other vehicles, weaving through traffic and losing a tire, according to video captured by a KTLA News helicopter.
The man raced along the 91 Freeway in a white pickup truck before zooming onto surface streets, where police officers made several unsuccessful attempts to halt the truck, the station reported.
After an almost hourlong chase, the pursuit ended near West Memory Lane and North Bristol Street, Sutter said, about eight miles from the shooting.
Police positioned on a bridge over the Santa Ana River executed a PIT maneuver, strategically hitting the side of the suspect’s truck and sending it into a guard rail. It bounced back into the road, striking a bridge divider, and came to rest, according to KTLA.
As smoke poured out of the vehicle, officers rushed to surround it. Police opened fire at 8:38 p.m., and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene, Sutter said.
A passenger in the car surrendered to police and was escorted away, KTLA reported.
Information on the suspect‘s and shooting victim’s identities was not immediately available.
