San Diego police officer wounded, suspect dead after gunfire during a vehicle theft investigation

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego police sergeant was wounded in an exchange of gunfire while investigating a possible stolen vehicle, authorities said Friday.

The sergeant was in serious but stable condition and the suspect died, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which investigates shootings involving San Diego Police Department officers.

Police officers found the reported stolen vehicle late Thursday at a shopping plaza, where the suspect was inside a store, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

The suspect ran out of the store and fired at least one round, striking the sergeant in the head, the statement said. Other officers fired their weapons, striking the suspect multiple times. The suspect was pronounced dead at a hospital at 1 a.m.

The names of the sergeant and the suspect were withheld.

The sergeant is the third San Diego police officer who has been shot in the last 12 months, and in a fourth incident, a police dog was shot and killed by a suspect, according to a police statement.