Authorities Friday publicly identified the felon wounded when he allegedly pulled a gun and shot at San Diego Police Department officers as they chased him through Balboa Park, prompting one of them to return fire.
Allen Baker, 54, suffered non-lethal gunshot wounds Tuesday afternoon during the confrontation in the northwestern reaches of the park, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, which investigates shootings on the part of SDPD personnel under terms of a regional agreement designed to prevent conflicts of interest.
The events that led to the law enforcement gunfire began about 4 p.m., when officers tried to contact Baker as he was riding a bicycle in the 2900 block of Balboa Drive, just east of Sixth Avenue and south of Spruce Street.
When the patrol personnel hailed him, Baker allegedly fled, first on the bicycle and then on foot, as the officers ran after him through the park, sheriff’s Lt. Juan Marquez said.
During the chase, Baker allegedly turned toward his pursuers and fired a gun at them, prompting SDPD Officer Kellan Taeatafa-De La Rosa to return fire, downing him.
No one else was wounded by the gunfire, according to police.
Baker, who was hospitalized for treatment of serious but non-life- threatening bullet wounds, has been charged with attempted murder of a peace officer, assault on a peace officer with a gun and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Taeatafa-De La Rosa has been with the San Diego Police Department for about five years, Marquez said.
–City News Service
