San Diego, CA
Name of Escondido police officer who shot man carrying BB gun is released
The name of the Escondido police officer who shot and wounded a 34-year-old man last week after he allegedly pointed a BB gun at him was publicly released Wednesday.
Officer Corey Montross fired multiple times after chasing the suspect from the transit center on West Valley Parkway onto a bike path shortly after 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2, said San Diego police Lt. Jud Campbell.
San Diego police are investigating the shooting under a countywide protocol on officer-involved shootings that ensures that a department does not investigate its own shooting incidents.
The man suffered multiple gunshot wounds but is expected to survive. Police said he was to be arraigned in the hospital on a felony count of resisting arrest.
Police had been called to the transit center after someone reported seeing a man brandishing a gun. Officers tried to talk with the man but he ran eastbound across Quince Street onto a bike path, police said. He was chased, and at least one officer told him to stop and drop the items he was holding in his hands but he didn’t, police said.
The shooting occurred after the man had run about 100 feet down a bike path and then turned quickly around and pointed what appeared to be a gun at the pursuing officer, Campbell said.
Montross is a patrol officer and has been on the Escondido force for about three years. The shooting was captured by several body-worn cameras and a city camera, an Escondido police spokesperson said. That video has not yet been released.
Campbell said a “revolver style” BB gun was located near where the suspect fell to the ground after being shot.
Prosecutors with the county district attorney’s office will review San Diego’s investigation to determine if the officer should face criminal charges for his actions. Escondido police will do an administrative investigation into the discharge of the gun, and the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office also will monitor the case.
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