A CHP officer and a gunman died Monday after a gun battle on a freeway overpass in Riverside.
The officer was among three California Highway Patrol officers hurt in the shooting.
The shooting occurred about 5:35 p.m. in the area of Box Springs Boulevard and Eastridge Avenue, just west of Interstate 215.
Footage from the scene showed the tense scene. Shots could be heard and authorities could be seen dragging an officer out of the line of fire, into a police car and driven off. Several other law enforcement could be seen carrying another officer to a helicopter that landed on the roadway.
A line of police cars could be seen, some with bullet holes in windshields. A blood trail could be seen in the street.
Blood could also be seen on the hood of a white truck. On the sidewalk near the truck, lay a rifle where paramedics could be seen giving CPR to a man in the gutter.
According to Riverside Police Department Officer Ryan Railsback, the CHP officers returned gunfire when shot upon by the man, whose name was not released.
The circumstances were unclear.
Railsback said both officers were hit, though the gravity of their wounds could not immediately be confirmed.
“One officer was transported to the county hospital in Moreno Valley in our (police) helicopter,” Railsback said. “The other officer was taken to the hospital in a CHP unit.”
According to Railsback, the suspect was “down and neutralized,” no longer posing a threat.
There was no word on his wounds.
There were indications that several passersby were hit by flying glass or shrapnel during the gunfire, and Riverside Fire Department paramedics were searching for those parties in the area.
Photo Credit: NBCLA
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC Los Angeles