BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Bakersfield Police Department is reporting Tuesday that a pursuit following a shooting at a Northeast Bakersfield restaurant has resulted in one person injured and another dead.
According to a BPD press release on the incident, just before noon on July 18, 2023, officers responded to a report of a shooting in the parking lot of the McDonald's located at 2699 Mount Vernon Avenue in Bakersfield. Upon arrival, officers say they found one man with a gunshot wound.
That man was transported to a hospital and is currently in stable condition, according to the press release.
Police say witnesses to the shooting described the alleged shooter as a white or Hispanic male adult with a heavy build and multiple tattoos wearing a gray or light-colored tank top.
According to the press release, witnesses said the shooter ran away, and a BPD patrol unit searching the nearby area for him said they saw someone matching the description the witnesses gave walking along the north alley in the 600 block of Irene Street.
Law enforcement says the person ran through someone's yard on Irene and tried to climb over their fence to get away. The officer pursuing him "pulled the subject off the fence, causing the subject to strike his head on the ground."
The press release says officers then handcuffed the man and took a handgun away from him. The language of the press release says "Medical aid was summoned and the subject became unresponsive."
BPD says officers then uncuffed the person in order to start CPR until medical responders arrived. When those medical responders evaluated him, they pronounced him dead at the scene.
Police say the two officers involved were wearing body cameras and that this is being investigated as a critical incident. The press release says that at this time, they haven't confirmed that the person they were chasing is for sure the person who committed the shooting and they're still investigating.
Stay connected to 23ABC on the air and online for more information as it becomes available, including the footage from the officers' bodycams. According to BPD, they will be releasing the video publicly at a later date.
BPD also says the identity of the dead person will be released by the Kern County Coroner's Office at a later time.
As their investigation is ongoing, the Bakersfield Police Department asks anyone with any additional information on this incident to contact them at 327-7111.
