A man was hospitalized after an officer-involved shooting occurred inside a Jack in the Box restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley neighborhood of Avocado Heights this past Sunday, NBC Los Angeles reports. The shooting took place at approximately 5:50 p.m. at the location near the intersection of Workman Mill Road and Don Julian Road, with deputies responding to a disturbance where the individual was allegedly refusing to leave the restaurant upon employees' request, CBS Los Angeles states.
Following the incident, investigators were seen examining the scene, where several bullet holes in the exterior of the fast food establishment were noted, as described by both NBC Los Angeles and CBS Los Angeles. The deputies provided medical aid to the man before he was transported to a hospital. His condition remains unknown, but no deputies were reported injured in the encounter. The number of people present inside the restaurant at the time of the incident is still unclear.
An eyewitness, Simon Martinez, described the moments leading up to the shooting in an interview with ABC7, stating, "Apparently, there was a man acting erratic across the street at the meat market there, and then continued to act crazy, went across the street, came into Jack in the Box. Police presence -- we heard helicopters as we were eating dinner, Apparently, it was a man that got violent on them."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau and Internal Affairs Bureau are currently investigating the circumstances that led up to the shooting, asking anyone with further information to come forward and contact them at (323) 890-5500, as mentioned by all three sources, NBC Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles, and ABC7. The departments have not released any additional information regarding what prompted the deputy to open fire or the identity of the man who was shot.
