San Diego police released on Friday the name of the felon shot and killed by police in Pacific Beach, as well as the name of the sergeant who fired the fatal round.
Timothy Gene Smith, a 47-year-old Missouri resident wanted on felony warrants, was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon on Thomas Avenue near Ingraham Street, San Diego police Lt. Paul Rorrison said. Sgt. Scott Holslag, a 19-year veteran of the department, was the officer who fired on Smith, Rorrison said.
The events that led to the shooting began shortly before 3 p.m. Rorrison said officers patrolling on Garnet Avenue recognized Smith as a fugitive wanted on felony warrants in Missouri. At the time, Smith was considered armed and dangerous.
Smith took flight when the officers tried to contact him but was found hiding in a shed between two apartment buildings, Rorrison said. He was bitten by a police dog as he attempted to flee, then climbed onto a ledge in the adjoining apartment building.
He then turned toward Holslag, the lieutenant said. Smith began riffling through his pockets and refused to comply with the sergeant's demands for him to show his hands, Rorrison said.
Holslag believed the suspect was reaching for a weapon and fired, striking him in the torso, Rorrison said. Smith died at the scene. No weapon was recovered.
Later Wednesday, a 32-year-old woman claiming to be Smith's wife barricaded herself in an apartment building on Ingraham Street near Fortuna Avenue, prompting a standoff with SWAT officers. The woman, identified in news reports as Janie Sanders, was later arrested.
She was wanted on a warrant for drug possession in Missouri, CBS 8 reported.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that police said Holslag's body-worn camera was operating during the incident. The newspaper also said it was the second time the sergeant has shot and killed a suspect who appeared to be going for a gun.
