Standoff with armed suspect on 91 freeway in Anaheim ends in fatal shooting

An hourslong standoff between an armed pursuit suspect and police that brought on a full closure of the 91 freeway in Anaheim Friday ended round midday because the suspect lay on the roadway with a deadly gunshot wound. 

The suspect died by suicide, based on the Corona Police Division.

The eastbound lanes of the 91 freeway at Imperial Freeway reopened shortly after, with the westbound lanes remaining closed till 3:38 p.m. as police officers carried out their investigation. 

The standoff was preceded by a police chase, as the driving force was wished for an armed stalking incident in Corona round 8 a.m. The suspect led police onto the 91 freeway, inflicting its closure and a visitors jam for miles earlier than drivers started turning round and driving the mistaken solution to filter out.

For hours, the suspect sat inside a blue sedan wedged between two black legislation enforcement autos in the midst of the freeway. Caltrans introduced the freeway closure at 9 a.m., and the standoff continued till someday round midday.

A disaster negotiation group from the Corona Police Division Police spoke over the telephone with the suspect, who police mentioned was thought-about armed and harmful.

The freeway closure prolonged from the place the 91 freeway meets the 55 freeway to the realm across the Lakeview Avenue exit on the 91, Caltrans officers mentioned simply earlier than 9 a.m. 

Round 10 a.m., some individuals caught within the jam began turning round and the freeway was just about emptied out by 11 a.m. California Freeway Patrol had assisted drivers in getting off the closed freeway, authorities mentioned.

Greater than a dozen legislation enforcement officers, a few of them holding up weapons pointed on the automotive, and two Okay-9 models had been concerned within the police response.

Two elementary colleges within the space — Orange Unified Pre-Okay and Crescent Elementary College — positioned college students underneath a shelter-in-place order because of the incident, college officers mentioned. At Orange Unified, dad and mom and buses had been in a position to choose up college students early.

From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., aerial footage confirmed vehicles packed tightly collectively on the freeway behind at the very least a dozen patrol autos.

CHP confirmed the tip of a pursuit, and an ensuing legal investigation led to the closure.

There gave the impression to be a visitors collision in a single space of the visitors jam, the place a semi-truck was parked horizontally on the freeway.

“Please keep away from the realm and use warning whereas driving,” Caltrans mentioned in a visitors alert.

Caltrans gives drivers with visitors updates made in actual time by way of a map that may be discovered right here. 

Mark Liu contributed to this report.