A SWAT team and sheriff’s deputies were searching for one or two “suspects” after an assault with a deadly weapon call left an officer wounded and a woman dead in Moreno Valley Tuesday.
The body of a second victim was discovered in a separate location on Tuesday evening, Moreno Valley Chief of Police Joel Ontiveros said at a news conference.
The officer was responding just before 2:30 p.m. at Old Lake Drive and Sunnymead Ranch Parkway (map), where he saw multiple “possible suspects,” Sheriff’s Deputy Deputy Alberto Munoz said.
The officer called for backup and was injured, but it was not clear if he was shot, Munoz said.
“He’s going to be OK,” Munoz said. “Apparently he ran into the incident as it was occurring and the suspects did flee the scene.”
A search was continuing for either one or two people, Munoz said.
“It is a big crime scene,” Munoz said. “Do not approach the area.”
Dozens of patrol cars were stationed at Old Lake Drive and Pigeon Pass Road (map) and father north on Pigeon Pass, and a nearby gas station was blocked off by police vehicles and yellow caution tape, aerial video showed.
An armored SWAT vehicle was on scene near a large home at the northern terminus of Pigeon Pass, which dead-ends in a semirural area of the foothills.
A Sheriff’s Department team was searching the nearby hills at about 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, an SUV parked at the gas station appeared to have damage to a window. Sheriff’s deputies stood around the SUV, aerial video showed.
Authorities would not initially confirm that a woman was killed at that scene.
But a man named Randy Greene told KTLA that the woman in the SUV was his mother, Wilma Patterson.
He described Patterson as a 74-year-old mother of five and grandmother of 12.
According to Greene, his mother was shot and killed by a high powered rifle.
Late Tuesday, there were numerous deputies at a home on Delphinium Avenue, according to Deputy Albert Martinez.
The location was believed to be the scene of the second homicide.
All three incidents were believed to be related, according to Ontiveros.
The Sheriff’s Department advised the public to stay away from the area of Pigeon Pass Road north of the 60 Freeway.
The Sheriff’s Department operates the Moreno Valley Police Department on contract.
KTLA’s Scott Williams contributed to this article.
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