National City man wounded in officer-involved shooting

NATIONAL CITY (CNS) – A 20-year-old man was hospitalized Wednesday with a gunshot wound to his left arm after he was wounded by a National City police officer at the end of a short vehicle pursuit in the South Bay city, police said.

The pursuit began on Gladiola Street around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to National City police.

The officer attempted to pull the suspect over for a vehicle code violation and the suspect refused, leading police on a short chase in his Honda Accord until he was forced to stop to avoid hitting another vehicle, police said in a statement.

“Officers initiated a high-risk vehicle stop on the (suspect’s) vehicle,” police said. “During the high-risk vehicle stop, an officer fired one round from his service pistol, striking the suspect in the Honda on his left arm.”

No one else was injured.

The officer who fired his weapon has over 15 years of law enforcement experience, according to police, who declined to release any further details because of the ongoing investigation into the shooting.

There was no mention by police of the man having a weapon, and precisely what prompted the officer to open fire was not immediately clear.