San Diego police said an officer was shot without provocation Saturday after a bizarre chain of events that began with a shooting at an In-and-Out Burger. Authorities also say they found a rambling suicide note from the alleged gunman.
Police gave the following account of the crime: While Jeremy Henwood's patrol car was stopped at a stop sign, the driver of a black Audi signaled with his lights, apparently to draw the officer's attention. The driver then pulled alongside the cruiser, lowered his front passenger-side window, leveled a shotgun and fired, striking the officer's head.
The driver of the Audi, later identified as Dejon Marquee White, 23, turned out to be a suspect in a shooting minutes earlier in the parking lot of an In-and-Out restaurant in nearby El Cajon. There is no evidence Henwood knew about the incident, authorities said.
"Jeremy had no indication he was in danger," said San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, backed at a news conference by a dozen members of his command staff and officers from other departments who responded to the incident: the El Cajon Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol.
As the Audi sped away, bystanders rushed to Henwood's aid. One man attempted emergency first aid. His wife took down a description of the Audi and its license-plate number. She used the radio in Henwood's car to alert the police dispatcher.
Within an hour of Henwood's shooting, witnesses' descriptions of the gunman and the Audi helped officers locate White outside an apartment building.
When he reached for a shotgun, several officers opened fire, killing him, said Capt. Jim Collins of the department's homicide squad.
For several hours police surrounded the apartment building, believing a second suspect was barricaded inside. Finally forcing their way into an apartment, SWAT officers found no one.
But they did find a rambling, semi-coherent suicide note apparently written by White.
The motive for the shooting at the El Cajon fast-food restaurant parking lot is unknown, Collins said. The victim is expected to survive, according to a homicide official with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
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-- Tony Perry in San Diego
Photo: San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne speaks at a solemn news conference after the death of Officer Jeremy Henwood, who was hit by a shotgun blast while sitting in his patrol car. Credit: Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune
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