A female suspect is in custody after San Diego police responded to reports of an active shooter near the route of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon.
Police arrested the woman around 12 p.m. Sunday after she fired multiple gunshots at a parking garage downtown, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said during a press conference.
The scene has been secured and police were not searching for an additional suspect, Nisleit said. No injuries were reported, except for one police officer who accidentally shot himself in the leg. He was transported to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, according to Nisleit.
Police said the incident took place on 100 W. C St., roughly one-quarter mile away from the finish lines for the full and half marathon races in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, a charity event benefiting the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The incident began around 10:45 a.m., when a person who was the victim of a hit and run flagged down a sergeant working at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon.
The marathon course was shut down for about 30 minutes, impacting about 4,000 runners, while police responded to the incident, Captain Mike Hastings with the San Diego Police Department homicide unit said during a press conference Sunday evening.
The shooting may be connected to an “armed violent kidnapping” that took place earlier in the day in Chula Vista, about eight miles south of San Diego, according to Nisleit. Hastings said investigators were still trying to ascertain if the suspect in custody was the same person who carried out the kidnapping.
“A male caller stated he had been kidnapped by a black female at gunpoint,” Nisleit said. “He was bound and gagged. That took a little while for him to get free. He called Chula Vista PD right before at about 10:50 this morning. We believe these two incidents are going to be tied together.”
The woman, described as in her 50s, pointed a handgun at an officer when she was approached in her vehicle, Hastings said during a press conference. She fled into a parking garage, according to his account, and another officer fired at the suspect and missed. The woman then dropped what police believe was likely an airsoft pistol with a CO2 cartridge off the roof of the parking garage before her arrest. She was taken into custody without any force and transported to police headquarters to be processed, according to Nisleit.
Officials did not immediately speculate about the shooter’s possible motive.
“There were some reports that she was firing down towards the runners,” Nisleit said. “That’s something that we’re obviously going to have to look at it. ... As you can imagine, this is a very much evolving case.”
Doha Madani and Rebecca Shapiro contributed reporting.