The driver of a vehicle who was shot and killed by El Cajon police after allegedly ramming officers outside of department headquarters last week was identified Thursday by San Diego police, which is investigating the shooting.
Benjamin Grube, 24, allegedly drove a vehicle at an El Cajon police sergeant and a lieutenant on the morning of Dec. 11 as they stood outside of the Police Department headquarters on Civic Center Way.
According to San Diego Superior Court records, Grube petitioned for and was granted a name and gender change to nonbinary in 2021. Police had previously identified Grube as female under a different name.
The vehicle had been parked in the headquarters parking lot when it backed out of a stall and began driving toward the lot exit, according to San Diego police.
But the pickup turned to face the officers and accelerated toward them.
El Cajon Police Sgt. Kevin Maxwell was struck by the pickup and was sent flying through the air. The lieutenant, who was not identified, leaped out of the way.
Maxwell managed to fire at the vehicle as it allegedly attempted to ram the officers again, San Diego police said. El Cajon Officer Evan Drescher, who responded to the incident, also fired at the vehicle.
Grube suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.
The motive “remains under investigation,” San Diego police said Wednesday in a release.
Following the incident, Maxwell, a 28-year El Cajon police veteran assigned to patrol, was also transported to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Drescher is a six-year department veteran assigned to the traffic division.
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