Sheriff’s deputies shoot, kill man they said brandished gun in Encinitas

Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man they said was armed with a handgun Friday morning, June 18, in the Leucadia area of Encinitas, department officials said.

The deputies responded to a call around 8 a.m. from a resident on Eolus Avenue near Hymettus Avenue about a “suspicious person,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Lt. Amber Baggs said.

The deputies made contact with the man who “at some point” pulled out a gun, Baggs told OnScene TV and other reporters at the scene. She did not say if the man threatened the deputies or pointed the weapon at them.

Both deputies opened fire on the man, striking him at least once, Baggs said. A neighbor told OnScene TV she heard several gunshots in quick succession.

According to Baggs, the deputies then provided medical aid to the injured man until firefighters arrived. Medics took him to a hospital, where he died.

The man’s name, age and other identifying details were not immediately released.

Neither of the deputies were injured in the incident, Baggs said.

Detectives from the sheriff’s homicide unit were investigating the shooting Friday, June 18, as is standard for all deputy shootings and in-custody deaths in cities and areas of the county covered by the Sheriff’s Department.

Homicide Lt. Thomas Seiver sent a press release late Friday, June 18, but revealed few new details. He said the county Medical Examiner’s Office would perform an autopsy Saturday, June 19, that would confirm the man’s identity.

“The circumstances of the shooting are currently under investigation,” Seiver said.

Investigators recovered a handgun at the scene, according to Baggs. The agency tweeted a photograph of a black pistol on the ground in an area of dry weeds.

Footage from OnScene TV showed investigators were focused on a dry, brushy hillside below Eolus Avenue and above Orpheus Avenue. Investigators had taped off the area, an empty lot that’s just west of Interstate 5 and visible from the southbound lanes of the freeway, between Leucadia Boulevard and La Costa Avenue.

A stretch of Orpheus Avenue remained closed Friday afternoon, June 18, as investigators gathered there to probe the shooting.

The June 18 shooting was believed to be the first by San Diego sheriff’s deputies in 2021. Deputies exchanged gunfire with a man in January on the Barona Indian Reservation, but did not hit him.