A standoff with a suspect in which two sheriff’s deputies were shot and injured Feb. 20 in Encinitas continued into the night, authorities reported.
The sheriff’s Special Enforcement Detail, Crisis Negotiation Team and regional SWAT teams remained on the scene after dark as the suspect remained in a home in the 700 block of Del Rio Avenue in Encinitas, according to a Sheriff’s Department update issued at 8:36 p.m.
According to Sheriff’s Department reports, the incident began about 1 p.m. when deputies from the Encinitas Sheriff’s Station responded to a call from a woman reporting that her son, who was upset about a restraining order she issued against him, had come to her house and then left with her car.
The suspect returned to the house at about 3:30 p.m. Deputies arrived on the scene and deployed tear gas when the 22-year-old man refused to obey commands, authorities stated.
Two deputies were injured when the suspect shot at them as they approached him, the Sheriff’s Department reported. One deputy was grazed on the forehead, and was treated at a hospital and released. The second deputy suffered a leg injury and is in stable condition at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. The Sheriff’s Department has not released the names of the suspect and deputies.
Nine homes in the neighborhood have been evacuated, and the Red Cross is assisting residents of those homes at the Encinitas Community and Senior Center, the Sheriff’s Department stated.