SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Authorities Thursday released the name of a documented gang member fatally shot by a deputy at the end of a foot chase through a residential neighborhood near Vista Village shopping center.
Patrol personnel and members of a gang-enforcement team spotted 24-year-old Jonathon Coronel riding in a green Buick on North Melrose Drive in Vista about 10:15 a.m. Wednesday and recognized him as a probationer wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant, according to sheriff's officials.
Before deputies could conduct a traffic stop, the driver of the car abruptly pulled to a halt, and Coronel jumped out and ran, Lt. Kenneth Nelson said.
The suspect fled for several blocks to the east, climbing over fences and running through private yards before a deputy caught up with him behind a home in the 200 block of Knoll Road.
During an ensuing confrontation, the lawman fired 12 to 15 rounds at the suspect with his service pistol. Coronel, a Vista resident, died from multiple gunshot wounds at the scene of the shooting.
Exactly what Coronel was doing when the deadly gunfire erupted - including any possible threatening moves and whether he had turned to face his pursuers - remained under investigation Thursday afternoon as detectives sorted through various witness statements, according to Nelson.
The suspect had no weapons on him at the time of the shooting, the lieutenant said. Deputies did, however, recover a knife and a sharpened screwdriver or similar object along the path Coronel took while trying to escape.
Investigators were trying to determine if the fleeing probationer might have dropped or tossed away those items during the chase, the lieutenant said.