A police chase in City Heights ended Thursday in a shooting that left a San Diego police officer wounded and the suspected assailant under arrest, police said.
The gunfire erupted about 3:30 p.m. in a culvert off the 2800 block of 39th Street, near Azalea Park, San Diego police said.
The patrolman was taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital for bullet wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, police Chief William Lansdowne said outside the Hillcrest trauma center.
About 15 minutes after the shooting, police took the suspected shooter into custody in the 2100 block of Haller Street, on the opposite side of state Route 15 and Interstate 805 from the site of the gunfire. His name was unavailable pending booking.
The California Highway Patrol temporarily closed both freeways in the area, causing traffic to backup for miles. Most of the affected lanes were reopened by early evening, according to the CHP.
Close relatives of the wounded officer, including his wife and mother, were with him at the hospital as doctors prepared him for surgery, Lansdowne said.
The shooting occurred after a pursuit and foot chase, SDPD Detective Gary Hassen said. The suspect was named in an arrest warrant, but it was unclear what the crime was, he said.
