A man was left critically wounded outside a Stater Bros. grocery store on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa on Tuesday morning, touching off an hours-long manhunt that ended blocks away with a mother and son barricaded inside an apartment complex before both were taken into custody.
The shooting happened shortly after 7:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the store in the 2100 block of Newport Boulevard, according to a Costa Mesa Police Department news release cited by the Los Angeles Times. Responding police and firefighters found a gunshot victim at the scene and transported him to an area hospital, where he was listed in critical but not fatal condition. Police said the man is expected to survive.
Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue crews were dispatched to the grocery store at approximately 7:35 a.m., and the parking lot was secured relatively quickly, according to New Santa Ana. But the operation that followed stretched for more than eight hours, with a SWAT team, tactical K9 units and aerial drones surrounding a nearby residential complex before officers made their arrests around 4 p.m.
Suspect Fled Only Blocks From the Scene
Police identified the suspect as 37-year-old Rodney Otis Rich, a Costa Mesa resident, per the Los Angeles Times report. In the hours after the shooting, police warned residents that a suspect remained at-large and urged people to avoid the area while the investigation unfolded.
The trail led police to a multifamily residential complex in the 2400 block of Newport Boulevard, about 0.3 miles north of the grocery store, according to MyNewsLA. That complex turned out to be the home of Rich's 63-year-old mother, Tammie Walker, also a Costa Mesa resident, who police said lived there according to a CMPD update. Officers arrested Walker alongside her son at the apartment.
Motive and Victim's Identity Still Unclear
Costa Mesa Police said it remains unclear whether Walker or Rich knew the unidentified victim, and the department has indicated the shooting does not appear to be gang-related. The investigation is ongoing, and officials have not released a motive for the attack.
Updates throughout the operation came from CMPD Public Affairs Manager Roxi Fyad, who was appointed in 2016 as the department's first civilian public affairs manager after previously serving as spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney's Office. The department is led by Chief Joyce LaPointe, a 28-year CMPD veteran who was appointed in December 2025 as the first female police chief in the agency's history, having risen through its ranks since joining as a patrol officer in 1997.
What Charges Could Follow
Formal charges from the Orange County District Attorney's Office remain pending against both Rich and Walker. Under California Penal Code Section 664/187(a), attempted murder can carry a sentence of life in state prison with the possibility of parole if prosecutors establish premeditation, or a term of 5, 7 or 9 years if it is deemed non-premeditated.
Walker's potential exposure is different. California Penal Code Section 32 makes accessory after the fact a wobbler offense, chargeable as either a felony or misdemeanor, for anyone who harbors, conceals or aids a felony suspect in avoiding arrest — an offense that carries up to three years in state prison.
A Familiar Address for Violence
The Stater Bros. parking lot at 2180 Newport Boulevard has its own dark history. In February 1994, a 40-year-old man was shot 10 times and killed outside the same store, a case that also drew a multi-city police response at the time.
Stater Bros. Markets, founded in 1936 in Yucaipa, is Southern California's largest privately held supermarket chain, operating roughly 170 stores across seven counties with more than 18,000 employees. This week's shooting stands out against the region's broader safety trends — California's homicide rate reached historic lows heading into 2026, and Orange County has long recorded violent crime rates well below the statewide average.
The incident also follows other recent gun violence cases CMPD has worked to resolve. In July, Costa Mesa police made an arrest in a 23-year-old cold case alley shooting that killed a 20-year-old man, underscoring the department's continued focus on non-gang violent crime in the city. Investigators have not said whether Tuesday's shooting is connected to any prior cases, and a reporter following the story would need to watch for arraignment schedules and formal charging documents from the Orange County District Attorney's Office to learn the specific felony counts Rich and Walker ultimately face.
