Deputies fatally shoot man during eviction; replica handgun found

Two sheriff’s court services deputies fatally shot a man they were trying to evict from his apartment near downtown San Diego Friday morning, authorities said.

The 47-year-old black man, who had told the deputies he would shoot them if they came inside, retrieved a replica handgun from his room when the deputies forced their way into the home, San Diego police homicide Lt. Mike Holden said.

He said the deputies thought the weapon was a semi-automatic handgun.

Both deputies fired, striking the man several times. Medics took him to a trauma center, where he died. The deputies were not injured.

“My impression is that it happened fairly quickly,” Holden said of the violent confrontation.

The man’s name was not released.

He said deputies went to the two-story apartment building on Second Avenue, south of Hawthorne Street, about 7:50 a.m. to serve the eviction notice. Holden did not know why the man was being evicted.

Deputies knocked on the man’s door, identified themselves and announced their intention to evict him, Holden said.

The man answered through a security door that if they entered, he would kill them, Holden said. The deputies pried open the locked door and went in anyway. The man ran into his bedroom and came out holding the replica handgun.

After he was shot, the man ran back into his bedroom, where deputies found him suffering from several gunshot wounds. They started first aid until paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital.

Investigators later recovered either an airsoft or BB air pistol in the bedroom, Holden said.

He said that in the early stages of the investigation, it appears that the man did not fire the weapon.

No one else was in the apartment at the time.

Mike Minier, who lives several blocks away, said he was walking his dog when he noticed the flashing lights of a sheriff’s patrol car and turned south on Second Avenue to take a closer look.

“A deputy kept pacing between the sidewalk and the grass, anxiously, like he was waiting for the ambulance,” Minier said. He started shooting video of the scene with his cellphone, which showed several San Diego police cars arriving with sirens blaring.

Minier said he saw someone put into the back of the ambulance, which then left quickly.

Several nearby residents said they didn’t hear any gunshots, but many have thickly paned windows to muffle the roar of jet engines overhead as airliners land at Lindbergh Field a short distance to the west.

Deputies assigned to the court services bureau not only provide security at county courthouses, but serve eviction notices as well as court summonses, restraining orders, bank levies and other legal papers.

The names of the deputies involved were not released. One is a 17-year veteran and the other has been with the Sheriff’s Department for nine years.

UPDATES:

8:40 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 11:10 a.m.