ORANGE: Dramatic, fatal officer-involved shooting caught on camera
The man, who has only been identified as a 33-year-old Orange resident, was fatally shot during an encounter with police. OnScene.TV image
ORANGE, Calif. – A man who was armed with a knife while sitting inside a locked minivan with a can of gasoline and a lit cigarette was fatally shot by City of Orange police officers during a violent, early-morning incident, Monday, March 13.
The deadly shooting happened during a traffic stop near a 24-hour laundromat, a convenience store, several restaurants, and other businesses at a shopping center in the 100 block of East Katella Avenue near the intersection of Glassell Street in Orange.
Parts of the fatal encounter were captured by OnScene.TV reporters.
The incident began about 12:30 a.m. and lasted between 20 to 30 minutes, after officers pulled over a white van.
Officers pulled the man over for a broken tail light, according to Orange police officials.
The suspect prepares to leap from his minivan. OnScene.TV image
The traffic stop escalated when the suspect, who has only been identified as a 33-year-old Orange resident, produced a gas can inside the van and lit a cigarette.
Various sources and media outlets have indicated the man has family that resides in San Jacinto.
According to Orange Police Lieutenant Fred Lopez, officers observed the man pouring fluid believed to be gasoline from the gas can onto a rag.
“We felt this guy was going to light himself on fire or blow the car up,” Lopez told reporters after the deadly shooting incident.
Officers at the scene were concerned the man, who was acting erratically and refusing to follow orders to put out the cigarette and exit the van, was contemplating lighting himself on fire or might have additional combustible materials inside his van that could cause a hazardous blaze.
“He was making a threat with a gas can. At one point he actually poured some gasoline onto a rag and…he had a cigarette lit,” Lopez continued. “That’s a combustible item and we have a responsibility to try and save him.”
The man jumps out of his van as he is hit with a blast from a fire hose. OnScene.TV image
As the volatile stand-off continued, officers requested priority assistance from other officers, City of Orange firefighters, and other emergency first responders.
During the stand-off and because of the fire hazard, while officers distracted the man and talked to him through the driver’s side window, other officers used a high pressure fire hose to break out one of the passenger side windows.
Officers then directed a large volume of water into the vehicle, in an effort to extinguish the man’s cigarette and keep him from setting himself and his vehicle ablaze.
Instead of forcing the man out of the vehicle, he reportedly moved further back into the van.
An Orange police officer struggles to subdue the man as other officers move in with guns drawn. OnScene.TV image
Video from the scene then showed the wild-eyed and shirtless man climb out through the driver’s side front window while the unseen officer continues to direct a steady stream of water into his vehicle.
As the man leaped from inside his van, officers attempted to subdue him and safely take him into custody.
Video showed the man momentarily fall to the ground after jumping through the van’s open window, before he leaped back up and reportedly reached behind his back and pulled out a knife.
On the video, one officer can be seen scuffling with the man and several unidentified people, believed to be other officers, are heard yelling that the man had armed himself with a knife.
Officers attempted to deploy non-lethal rubber projectiles; however, the rounds were ineffective – forcing authorities to use lethal force to subdue the subject.
Officers move in to provide medical aid and life-saving efforts to the man. OnScene.TV image
“We try to use less lethal rounds, but it is not always possible,” Lopez said.
Within seconds, at least two shots fired by one or more officers ring out and the man is seen falling to the ground.
The subject was reportedly hit by one round fired by the officer(s).
Officers and other emergency first responders immediately began to provide medical aid and life-saving efforts to the mortally wounded suspect.
Medics transported the subject to a nearby hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by hospital staff.
No officers were injured during the violent confrontation or shooting.
An officer performs CPR on the wounded man as he is moved to a waiting ambulance. OnScene.TV image
“I’ve been here for 22 years. I don’t know that I’ve ever even heard of a plan like this,” said Lopez. “I think it was an excellent idea to use the water to prevent (the man) from lighting himself on fire.”
Although police have not yet formally identified the suspect, residents and business owners in the area told various media outlets they were familiar with the man and he was known to frequent the area.
Nearby gas station owner Leo Felling told reporters at the scene, “He was always paranoid that he was, you know, that people were after him or people spying on him or people following him.”
Jasmine Jones, an employee from a nearby business, who said she had reported the man’s erratic and confrontational behavior before later said, “I don’t know why he did that, but I was not at all surprised. I always felt he was dangerous and always did my best to avoid him.”
On social media, some questioned why officers elected to use deadly force on someone who appeared to be mentally unstable.
However, Rose Renee summarized the tragic incident, saying, “He pulled out a knife, that’s suicide by cop. That’s the result when (you) do that.”
During a subsequent investigation police found and recovered two knives at the scene.
The shooting is being investigated by Orange Police Department, with assistance from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and Orange County Coroner’s officials.
Their investigation into the deadly incident is active and ongoing.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.