Santa Ana Police Forced To Shoot Armed Child Molester Suspect

Santa Ana police investigating a child molestation case shot and killed a man during a struggle for a handgun at an apartment complex in Fountain Valley, authorities said Tuesday.

Santa Ana officers went to an apartment in the 10300 block of La Hacienda Avenue at about 10:50 p.m. Monday to contact a man in connection with the investigation, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

The man’s mother opened the door and let police inside. At that point, the man tried to flee, Bertagna said.

Officers chased the man and noticed he was carrying a gun, according to Bertagna. There apparently was a struggle for the weapon, at which point police opened fire, striking the man at least once, authorities said.

After officers rendered aid at the scene, the man was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was later pronounced dead.

No officers were injured.

Authorities did not immediately identify the man, whom they described as in his 30s. A relative who did not want to be identified said the man was 28.

Several residents of the Serena Vista apartments, where the shooting occurred, said the complex is generally quiet and that people keep to themselves.

A longtime resident who didn’t want to be identified said Tuesday that “at first I didn’t think anything of it” when the sound of sirens engulfed the block the night before. Emergency services regularly respond to an assisted-living facility nearby, she said.

Soon, however, the apartment complex was surrounded by lights and police remained on the scene until after 3 a.m., when she went to bed, she said.

On Tuesday morning, a scrap of crime-scene tape remained stuck to a manicured shrub, and police field interview cards littered the front of the apartment where the man lived.

Police did not immediately provide information about the child molestation case.

The Fountain Valley Police Department and the Orange County district attorney’s office responded to investigate the shooting, Bertagna said.