Officer Opens Fire on Knife-Wielding Young Man in El Cajon

A patrol officer opened fire on an agitated, knife-wielding young man in an East County residential neighborhood Thursday, leaving him with an apparently non-life-threatening arm wound, authorities reported.

El Cajon police went to the area of Pepper Hill and Villa Crest drives, in the northeastern reaches of the city, shortly after 9 a.m. to investigate residents' reports that a stranger was lurking around homes as if looking for one to burglarize, Lt. Jeff Arvan said.

The first officer to arrive in the neighborhood saw a pedestrian matching the description of the suspicious person and called out to him, according to Arvan. The man looked over, then walked off.

After the patrolman told the suspect several times to halt, the 22-year-old man turned around and displayed a knife, Arvan said. The suspect ignored the officer's repeated orders to drop the weapon and began advancing on him in a threatening manner, the lieutenant said. At that point, the lawman fired a single shot at the suspect.

The officer and other police personnel who had just arrived in the area were then able to take the suspect into custody. Medics took the man, whose name was not immediately available, to Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego.

He was expected to survive, the lieutenant said.

Neighbors told reporters the suspect had shouted at the officer to shoot him during the confrontation.

-City News Service