A man armed with a gun was shot and killed by deputies who chased his vehicle to an Indian Wells country club after he’d threatened to kill another driver in La Quinta Monday, officials said.
Authorities initially responded around 7:25 a.m. to Highway 111 and Simon Drive, an area lined with many commercial businesses. The driver of a black Mercedes-Benz with Arizona plates was brandishing a handgun and threatening to kill another motorist, Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Lionel Murphy said.
The man who wound up shot went to the victim’s vehicle, beat on the window with a handgun and asked him if he wanted to die, Sheriff Chad Bianco told the Desert Sun.
“I don’t want to call it a road rage, but there were words exchanged between the two drivers,” he said.
The Mercedes driver allegedly fled while deputies were en route to the scene. They caught up with him near the corner of Desert Horizons Drive and Highway 111 in Indian Wells, about 3 ½ miles east from the initial confrontation, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
The suspect then drove into the Desert Horizons Country Club, where the Desert Sun reports an attendant opened the gate for him when he said he was fleeing authorities.
Murphy confirmed the suspect got out of his vehicle and was confronted by two deputies on the country club’s property.
The suspect allegedly pointed a handgun at the deputies, at least one of whom opened fire.
Officials have yet to determine whether both deputies fired their weapon, or how many shots were fired, Murphy said.
Paramedics responded and pronounced the man dead at the scene.
His identity was being withheld, pending the notification of his next of kin, officials said.
There were no other injuries, and no outstanding suspects, authorities said.
Investigators say they recovered a handgun at the scene.
The deputies involved will be placed on administrative leave in accordance with department policy.
Monday’s shooting is the third by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies this year, and all of them have been fatal. It’s also the second deadly shooting in less than a month for the Palm Desert station.
The other two shootings, in Thousand Palms and Perris, both involved domestic violence suspects.
