Authorities have captured a man who allegedly shot and killed one person in a group of neighbors who had confronted him after seeing him steal from a vehicle in Covina late Tuesday night, police said.
Officers responded to reports of a theft in progress from a vehicle in the 1100 block of North Charter Drive around 11 p.m., and arrived to find a homicide victim, the Covina Police Department said in a news release.
The vehicle theft suspect had been seen by multiple area residents who followed him to the 1800 block of East Covina Boulevard.
It was there that several of the neighbors confronted the thief.
During the confrontation, the assailant took out a handgun and fired it multiple times at the group, striking one person, Covina police said.
The victim, a man from Covina, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police later identified the victim as Joey Casias.
The gunman then fled the scene on foot, though he was located on Wednesday afternoon in the 5100 block of North Bonnie Cove Avenue, police said in a release.
After he was spotted by a UPS driver, the man, later identified as 34-year-old Trevor Howard Thompson, fled into an apartment complex, where he “initially refused to surrender to officers and fired a round inside the patio area,” police said.
“After nearly a four-hour standoff, Thompson climbed out of the patio, with a handgun, and attempted to flee on foot. Officers used less lethal rounds to subdue Thompson and safely took him into custody. A handgun was recovered,” police said.
“On behalf of Chief of Police David Povero, the entire Covina Police Department, City Council and staff of Covina, our hearts go out to the victim’s family. They are in our thoughts and prayers,” the department said in a news release.
Police did not say what the gunman was suspected of stealing from the vehicle and no further details were available.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Covina Police Department Detective
Preciado at 626-384-5622 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
