A Carlsbad police officer was smacked in his head with a skateboard late Friday, an unprovoked ambush that led the injured officer to open fire on the fleeing assailant, authorities said.
Responding police officers soon caught and arrested the suspect, who had not been struck by the gunfire.
The officer was hospitalized for his wounds and remained there Saturday, San Diego police homicide Lt. Steve Shebloski said in a news release.
The San Diego department is investigating the incident under a countywide protocol that prevents departments from investigating their own police shootings. The homicide unit handles all investigations when officers open fire, even when no one is struck.
According to Shebloski, the injured officer — whose name was not released — was driving a patrol car on Carlsbad Village Drive, headed west under Interstate 5 about 11:15 p.m. when a rock suddenly struck his vehicle — destroying its spotlight and damaging the windshield.
The officer called for a supervisor and pulled over into a nearby shopping center. As the officer and his sergeant inspected the damage to the vehicle, someone ran up behind the officer and “without warning or provocation” hit him with the skateboard, Shebloski said.
The assailant ran off. The injured officer grabbed his gun and, as he sought cover at a nearby business, opened fire as the man ran across the parking lot. The officer fired three shots. No one was struck.
The sergeant ran after the assailant. Additional officers responded and a man was arrested about three blocks away.
Shebloski said detectives are trying to figure out whether the incident that led the officer to pull over — a rock hitting the patrol vehicle — was an accident or an “intentional act carried out by the suspect or another person.”
Shebloski identified the suspected assailant as Kyle McCord, 32, of San Diego. He booked into Vista jail on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer and committing a felony while on bond or release. Online jail records indicate he is slated for possible arraignment Thursday.
The injured officer has been with Carlsbad since September 2022, and has eight years of law enforcement experience.
No further information about the officer’s condition was available, Carlsbad police Lt. Eric Kovanda said in an email Saturday.
“We truly appreciate the concern for the officer’s recovery and the continued support from the community,” Kovanda said.
