Police Fatally Shoot Suspect After Wild Pursuit Ends in Santa Ana Crash
A tense and chaotic pursuit across several Southern California cities ended Wednesday night with police fatally shooting a suspect near a small park in Santa Ana. The entire chase unfolded in just under an hour, yet it felt longer — maybe because of how close it came to ending badly for more than just the suspect.
It all began sometime before 8 p.m. Officers with the Anaheim Police Department were responding to reports of a shooting at the Kona Inn Motel, a place not exactly known for calm evenings. A person had been shot there — wounded but expected to survive, according to the department. The suspected shooter had already taken off.
What followed was a high-speed chase that led officers through cities like Cerritos and La Palma, with the suspect — driving a white Chevrolet Silverado — weaving through traffic on the CA-91 freeway. At times, the truck darted across intersections, pushed through red lights, and even drove the wrong way down the highway. Not just briefly either. For a moment there, it looked like a head-on collision could happen at any second.
Police tried using a spike strip, but that didn’t stop him. A PIT maneuver didn’t work either — the driver just kept going. At one point, an officer tried using the cruiser itself to force the suspect onto the sidewalk. That didn’t work either. The Silverado just kept moving.
Things finally came to a head near Memory Lane Park in Santa Ana. After a sharp PIT maneuver sent the truck into a wall, the suspect still tried to escape. He hit another wall — hard. A puff of smoke rose as the truck struggled against the barrier. That’s when officers opened fire.
From what witnesses saw — and what video seems to show — the suspect’s final move was to accelerate directly into the wall again. The vehicle became nearly invisible in the smoke. Then the shooting started. When the air cleared, the suspect was dead.
There was one other person inside the truck. After a short standoff, that passenger stepped out and surrendered without a fight. Police later confirmed they were not hurt.
A gun was recovered from the vehicle during a search by the California Department of Justice. Police say it was found during the initial sweep, but didn’t elaborate on whether it had been fired during the pursuit.
The investigation is now moving forward under state oversight. That includes reviewing body camera footage, cruiser dash cams, and witness statements. There’s still a lot that’s unknown — like what exactly the suspect was thinking in those final seconds, or why they drove the way they did.
If you’re looking for more context on how officer-involved shootings are handled in California, this DOJ resource page outlines the oversight process.
As for the area around Memory Lane Park, it was blocked off for several hours overnight. Residents nearby said the whole scene felt surreal — like something out of a movie, but quieter. More eerie than explosive.
And maybe that’s part of what lingers. The chase is over, but the noise hasn’t really stopped. Not for the people who watched it, and likely not for the ones left asking questions.
