Authorities Wednesday released the names of the two sheriff’s deputies who shot a man when he allegedly refused to drop a pellet pistol and a knife he was wielding during a confrontation in the Bonsall area Saturday, leaving him with non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputies Jorge Chavez and Lisa Lee opened fire on 66-year-old Patrick Wendell Lowell of Escondido in the area of state Route 76 and Via Montellano in Bonsall about 11:30 Saturday morning, according to the San Diego Police Department.
SDPD investigates shootings by San Diego County Sheriff’s Department personnel under terms of a regional anti-conflict-of-interest agreement.
The deputies were investigating “numerous” reports of a man brandishing a handgun in the unincorporated community west of Interstate 15 and south of Fallbrook at the time, said SDPD Lt. Steve Shebloski.
Chavez and Lee reportedly spotted Lowell in the area holding a pistol and a knife and ordered him repeatedly to drop what appeared to be weapons. When he refused, they fired on him, wounding him in his lower body.
“This incapacitated the suspect, and he dropped the weapons he was holding,” Shebloski said.
The pistol the suspect allegedly had been wielding turned out to be a Glock-replica BB pistol, according to police.
Paramedics took Lowell to a hospital for treatment
Chavez and Lee have been employed by the Sheriff’s Department for five and three years, respectively. Both are assigned as patrol deputies at the Vista Sheriff’s Station.
City News Service contributed to this report.