Authorities released bodycam footage Tuesday of a fatal shootout between police and an armed suspect at a San Diego grocery store Dec. 7, ABC7 reported.
The footage shows several officers enter a Ralphs supermarket to confront the suspect, identified as 46-year-old Curtis Harris, according to ABC7.
Officers arrived at the supermarket after being alerted by a woman who made a 9-1-1 call to report that her car had been stolen several days earlier by someone she knew, ABC7 reported.
The woman told police she noticed the car parked in the lot but did not approach the man because he was armed, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Police Shoot Suspect Who Jumped Off Tall Building, Allegedly Reached For Weapon: Body Cam)
Police bodycam footage captures deadly gun battle between officers, suspect at SoCal Ralphshttps://t.co/8G9qTb3Shm
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 19, 2023
When officers confronted Harris at the store, he ran out the front door where an officer tried to stop him, ABC7 reported. Harris then weaved through shopping carts, pulled out a gun and jumped over a wall before opening fire, hitting Sgt. Anthony Elliot in the head, according to the outlet.
Harris also reportedly opened fire on other officers who had chased him out of the store. The officers returned fire, killing the suspect, ABC7 reported.
The footage shows officers realizing that Elliot was missing and then discovering him lying on the ground wounded, the outlet reported.
“This was a very dangerous situation, multiple rounds being fired at officers,” Police Chief David Nisleit said. “The officers did a phenomenal job tonight. Obviously we have a sergeant in the hospital. That makes me emotional.”
Elliot, who was shot at close range, is in the hospital battling to recover from the headshot and will likely not be home for Christmas, the San Diego Tribune reported.
“I’ve probably looked at north of 70 officer-involved shootings over my career from homicide, then patrol and now as chief, and this one, I think, is tops as far as just up close and violent,” the chief told the newspaper.
A fundraiser for the injured officer, organized by the Peace Officers Research Association of California, has raised nearly $33,000 as of Tuesday, according to the newspaper.