Dec. 11--BUENA PARK, Calif -- An off-duty police officer was on his way to work Sunday morning when shot and wounded a man after he broke up an alleged domestic dispute.
The officer, who has not been named, was driving about 5:20 a.m. near the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Auto Center Drive when he saw a man and woman involved in what looked like a domestic fight, according to a news release issued by the Buena Park Police Department. After calling the fight into police dispatch, the officer stopped his car and asked the woman if she needed help.
The man grew angry and started to threaten the officer and approached the officer's car, according to the news release. The officer, fearing for his safety, fired one round at the man, hitting him. The man ran onto the northbound 15 Freeway from Auto Center Drive.
Other officers responded to the scene and detained the fleeing man before he got very far. Paramedics took him to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to the news release.
Police said they questioned the man, but they have not said if he as been or will be arrested. They took the woman to a nearby police station where they could also question her.
The Orange County District Attorney's Office will investigate the shooting and rule whether or not it was justified.
Copyright 2011 - KTLA-TV, Los Angeles
