A man fatally shot by police on a golf course in Fontana was an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, authorities said on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which has an agreement with the city of Fontana to investigate its police shootings, identified the deputy as Alejandro Diaz, 45, a resident of Fontana.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is deeply saddened to hear of the tragic shooting incident involving our off-duty deputy who passed away yesterday (Tuesday),” the agency said in a statement. The department declined to provide more information about Diaz.
Fontana police initially responded to a report of a shooting just before 4 p.m. at a home in the 16600 block of Colonial Drive, one of the streets in a small neighborhood surrounded by the Sierra Lakes Golf Club course. Diaz’s wife reported that her husband had fired a gun at a wall inside their home, said Officer Daniel Romero, a Police Department spokesman.
No one was reported injured at the home, said Officer Jason DeLair, another police spokesman.
Diaz left the home with a gun, Romero said. Shortly afterward, police received reports of a man carrying a gun near the Sierra Lakes clubhouse, which was a short walk from Diaz’s home.
Fontana police confronted Diaz.
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“After giving several verbal commands, a lethal force encounter occurred,” Romero said. Diaz was taken to a hospital, where he died.
A video from the scene posted on social media shows Diaz sitting on the ground with his back to a golf cart with his left hand in the air as four officers approach him with their guns pointed at him.
Diaz then rolls over so he is on his back. He then appears to reach for something with his right hand.
“Oh, he’s got it,” someone can be heard saying on the video. An instant later, the officers all open fire simultaneously.
“He grabbed the gun,” one person says. “What an idiot,” says another.
Information on whether Diaz fired at the officers was not available.
No Fontana officers were reported injured.
SCNG Staff Writer Hunter Lee and City News Service contributed to this report.
