Officer on administrative leave after deadly shooting

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was investigating a shooting that left one man dead, and a Palm Springs Police Officer with minor injuries Friday.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s department confirmed the suspect died at the hospital.

Officials said his name would be released after contacting the next of kin.

The Palm Springs Police Department received multiple 911 calls Friday afternoon, about a man exposing himself, urinating, yelling racial and homophobic slurs and possibly having a weapon.

Police arrived on scene at approximately 1:00 p.m. at the Rite Aid parking lot on the 400 block of South Palm Canyon Drive where police came in contact with the suspect.

“Two officers made contact with the subject, two uniformed officers. there was a struggle that went to the ground that resulted to an officer involved shooting,” Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes said.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said, the man became combative when officers approached him.

The suspect then began to struggle, leading one officer to shoot.

One eyewitness told us what he saw. “You know the cops contacted the guy, the guy lunged for the cops and reached toward his waistband and that’s where it really escalated,” witness Cody White said.

With the recent murders of two PSPD officers, fresh on the mind of officers, we asked Chief Reyes if that impacted how officers responded to the call.

“People are calling 911 this is flat out emergency calls from multiple people indicating someone was armed and acting erratic we don’t step on the break we step on the gas pedal to get there,” Reyes said.

The officer involved in the shooting was treated for minor injuries and is on administrative leave.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has taken the lead in the investigation and said the involved officer’s name will not be released at this time.