Detectives are investigating the circumstances around Monday’s shooting inside a gated community in Canyon Country.
The suspect, described by law enforcement only as a Hispanic man, was struck twice in the upper torso and was transported to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau officials.
While no other new information was available Tuesday, Lt. Charles Calderaro, of the LASD Homicide Bureau, confirmed he was listed in critical condition and remained in the intensive care unit as of Tuesday evening. The suspect has yet to be identified by homicide detectives.
The incident occurred around 2:20 p.m. Monday on MacMillan Ranch Road near Warm Springs Drive inside a gated community after the man drove a red Toyota Tacoma truck through the gate, forcing his way into the community, according to a Nixle released by the Sheriff’s Department.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies first responded to a call for a traffic incident, though the call was updated to shots fired shortly after.
“Residents had seen the vehicle inside the complex, and two individuals — one a retired L.A. County sheriff’s deputy — had approached the vehicle to see what was going on,” Lt. Charles Calderaro, of the LASD Homicide Bureau, said Monday evening.
Upon contact, there was a scuffle, and the driver, who was still seated in the driver’s seat of the pickup truck, “produced a handgun,” while the retired deputy “also produced a handgun,” and a shooting occurred, per the Nixle.
Multiple residents in the gated community said they witnessed the incident, including HOA President Eddie Hansen, who said some of the neighbors had blocked the truck in before the two individuals approached the truck.
“The driver, one neighbor and his father-in-law … started having a scuffle, and the father-in-law says, ‘Watch out; he’s got a gun,’” Hansen said, adding that the retired deputy shot the driver after the driver reached for the weapon.
Upon arrival, deputies took the suspect into custody before he was transported to the hospital.
The gun that law enforcement officials recovered from the scene is believed to belong to the driver.
Detectives do not believe the driver is a resident of the gated community and were still working to find out how he was linked to the area.
“We don’t know what type of business he had coming to this location,” Calderaro added.
The investigation is ongoing and there was no further information as of Tuesdaymorning.
Anyone with information about this incident can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), use your smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile APP on Google play or the Apple App Store or by using the website lacrimestoppers.org.
