Detectives on Thursday continued to investigate the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting of a driver accused of trying to run over a police sergeant in El Cajon.
The sergeant and a lieutenant with the El Cajon Police Department were preparing for a retirement ceremony at police headquarters on Civic Center Way Wednesday when the woman drove a 2000 Toyota Tundra out of a parking lot and onto an adjacent sidewalk, according to the San Diego Police Department.
“The sergeant was struck and thrown into the air as he tried to run out of the way,” SDPD acting Lt. Jonathan Dungan said.
The SDPD investigates OIS by El Cajon police under a countywide agreement intended to prevent conflicts of interest.
The lieutenant called for backup shortly after 12:30 p.m. as the truck crashed into a tree.
“As additional officers responded, and while the sergeant was attempting to get back up, the (driver) reversed the truck and then drove forward toward officers a second time,” Dungan said.
At that point, the sergeant and a second officer opened fire. Paramedics took the woman to a trauma center, where she was pronounced dead. Her name has been withheld pending family notification.
The sergeant, with El Cajon police for 25 years, was transported to a hospital. He has since been released from medical care.
The other officer involved in the shooting has been with the ECPD for about six years and currently works as a motorcycle patrolman assigned to the traffic division.
Police do not know what prompted the woman, who was in her 20s, to allegedly use a vehicle as a weapon against the officers.
“The motive for (her) actions remains under investigation,” Dungan said Thursday.
