To protect their own lives, CHP officers were forced to shoot at two suspects following a car pursuit through Cottonwood.
The incident locked down nearby West Valley High School for a half hour and closed Happy Valley Road for much of the day.
No officers were hurt during this incident but two suspects, a man and a pregnant woman were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
It all started with a simple traffic stop on Tuesday morning.
“Well preliminary information is that CHP officers were attempting to pull over a red pickup truck off of Main Street in Cottonwood,” said Lt. Dave Kent of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
But it appears the driver did not want any part of it and sped off on Gas Point Road.
“The vehicle did not stop and it ended pursuing westbound to about Happy Valley Rd,” said Kent.
At points, feeling their own lives were in danger, officers fired at the vehicle.
“When the pursuit ended here on Happy Valley Road, just north of Gas Point, there was at least another shot fired by officers, so again, we don’t know for sure what prompted the shots fired,” said Kent.
Two suspects were struck, a man and a woman were taken to Mercy Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
“I believe we do have police authorities that are watching them right now while they are being treated,” said Kent.
A third suspect, a woman, was detained on scene and was later taken away by law enforcement. She too was in the pick-up. It appears officers first fired on that pick-up because a suspect also had a gun and may have fired.
“We don’t know for sure what prompted the shots fired, if there was a gun involved, we still don’t know and can’t confirm at this time,” said Kent.
One thing law enforcement can confirm, officers were not hurt.
“The officers are OK, i was told that they were not injured in this incident,” said Kent.
Officers are guarding the male suspect at the hospital, it is likely he will face charges.
