Deputies, officer fatally shoot armed passenger during San Marcos traffic stop

Sheriff’s deputies and a college police officer shot and killed a passenger who authorities said picked up a gun and refused to drop it during a San Marcos traffic stop Wednesday night.

The incident started shortly after 9 p.m. when a San Marcos-based deputy pulled over a red Hyundai Sonata for an unspecified vehicle violation, San Diego police Homicide Acting Lt. Christopher Leahy said in a news release Thursday. San Diego police are investigating under a countywide agreement designed to prevent policing agencies from investigating themselves following a shooting.

According to Leahy, the 21-year-old woman driving the sedan pulled over on North Twin Oaks Valley Road near West Borden Road, which is less than a mile north of state Route 78. With her was a 33-year-old man in the front passenger’s seat.

A check of the car’s license plate and vehicle identification number appeared inconsistent with Department of Motor Vehicles registration records, Leahy said. Additionally, the deputy spotted damage to the steering column, which Leahy said suggested the sedan could have been stolen.

The deputy asked for backup, and several deputies and a Palomar College police officer arrived to assist.

As they arrived, the passenger “abruptly rolled up his window and ignored commands to keep it down,” then reached for the floorboard and armed himself with a semiautomatic pistol, Leahy said. He said the man did not comply with repeated commands to drop it.