Officers shot a man dead during a robbery investigation in Santa Ana on Friday, according to police, who did not say what led to the death.
Three officers from the Santa Ana Police Department’s directed enforcement team were looking for a vehicle and individual involved in a robbery when they spotted the suspect vehicle in the 1000 block of West Third Street (map) around 11 a.m., according to police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Police tried to contact the person inside the white Dodge Charger when something happened and officers shot him, Bertagna said.
“They located that vehicle and an individual inside that vehicle. … They attempted to make contact with that suspect and at this point we don’t know why — an officer-involved shooting occurred,” Bertagna said.
The corporal could not say if the person shot was armed.
The man died at the scene, and no officers were injured, Bertagna said. Video from the scene showed a body under yellow plastic sheeting amid a swarm of patrol cars.
No details were available on the robbery that led to the fatal shooting, but Bertagna said the crime had not occurred Friday.
The shooting took place within a few blocks of Orange County’s civic center, close to the headquarters of both the Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
The District Attorney’s Office, homicide detectives and internal affairs inspectors were conducting three separate investigations, Bertagna said.
