On Friday, August 11th, 2023, at about 8:49 A.M., officers with the San Bernardino Police Department responded to a call for service in which multiple callers stated a suspect had a gas station cashier at gunpoint at Baseline and ‘H’ Street. The suspect was described as a 30-year-old black male with shoulder-length hair, wearing a white shirt. He was seen holding a black handgun and was associated with a blue or purple Mazda parked near the fuel pumps.
Within minutes, an officer arrived and observed a subject matching the description walking away from the entrance of the business, towards the fuel islands. The officer noticed the suspect was holding a handgun, which confirmed his belief that this was the suspect described by the callers. The suspect began maneuvering in between vehicles parked at the fuel islands. The officer gave multiple verbal commands to the suspect ordering him to drop the weapon, which he failed to comply with. Instead, the suspect raised the handgun in the direction of the officer.
The officer reacted by firing two gunshots at the suspect, striking him twice. The gunshots caused the suspect to drop the firearm from his hands. He was handcuffed without any further incident. The two subjects inside the Mazda, which the suspect was maneuvering toward, were detained. The suspect was transported to a local hospital and later succumbed to his injuries. Several citizen bystanders were at the business and pumping gas during the incident. Through further investigation and witness interviews, Detectives established the fact the suspect committed a felony robbery at the location just before the officer had arrived.
The case is still under investigation, anyone with additional information regarding this incident should contact Detective D. Sawyer at 909-384-5630. As standard protocol, the San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office responded to the scene on the date of the incident and is conducting a parallel investigation, which is also ongoing.
The following photos were still shots captured from the business surveillance camera, suspect faces have been blurred.
