Deputies wound man in California shootout after carjacking

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies shot and wounded a 44-year-old man during a Christmas Eve shootout in Northern California after he allegedly carjacked an SUV at gunpoint, authorities said.

The man was struck at least once by gunfire and was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. His name was not immediately made public. He will be booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on felony charges after he is released from the hospital.

The Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies who were involved in the shooting have been put on paid administrative leave. No deputies or civilians were injured.

The incident began on Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. when the initial carjacking victim called for help. The driver told authorities that he’d been leaving work when an armed suspect had pointed a gun at him in a parking lot in the city of Rancho Cordova and demanded his Ford Explorer’s keys, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Rancho Cordova police were able to track the SUV through GPS to an apartment complex in an unincorporated area of Sacramento County and found the vehicle in a parking lot. The man appeared to run out of the apartment complex as deputies were setting up a perimeter and he fired multiple rounds at them, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies fired back as the man kept running. He shot back at them and was struck by at least one bullet shot by the deputies as he allegedly tried to carjack another vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.

The city of Rancho Cordova is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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