Officers shot and killed a carjacking suspect who they said tried to ram a stolen car into a Concord police patrol vehicle in a dramatic chase that spanned two malls.
At 8:43 p.m. on Wednesday, Contra Costa County Sheriff's deputies and Concord police began following a stolen vehicle from near Sun Valley Mall, according to Concord police spokesman Lt. David Hughes.
The man driving the stolen vehicle ditched the car at the mall, and then ran on foot eastward towards the nearby Willows Shopping Center, located across from Interstate Highway 680.
The suspect tried to carjack two other vehicles and failed, but he ultimately gained control of a car on his third attempt, Hughes said.
Concord police confronted the man in the back of the shopping center's parking lot near REI before he could flee. The suspect then used the recently stolen vehicle to ram into a police car, according to Hughes.
Officers shot the suspect several times in defense of themselves and the public, Hughes said.
Police immediately called in emergency medical aid, but the suspect died from his injuries.
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Bridget Trusler, who works at a nearby Krispy Kreme, said she was working inside at the time.
"Our whole store went into lockdown," she said.
She said she saw "cops and I saw, like a guy with a gun. And all these cops running toward the scene. I saw cops with guns."
A multijurisdictional team of investigators from the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department Crime Lab, and the Concord Police Department were called to the
scene and are jointly investigating the incident, Hughes said.
The identity of the suspect, who Hughes said was a multiple convicted felon, will not be released until his family is notified of the shooting.
Anyone with any additional information pertaining to this case is asked to call Detective Greg Pardella at (925) 603-5922. Anonymous tips can be left at (925) 603-5836.
NBC Bay Area stringer Craig Cannon and Bay City News contributed to this report.
