Man Fatally Shot in Alleged Break-In Try : Crime: Officers confronted the suspect and ordered him to surrender. A deputy opened fire when the man allegedly pointed a pistol.
LAGUNA HILLS — A sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a suspected prowler Tuesday after the man allegedly pointed a pistol at officers.
The man, who was not immediately identified, was pronounced dead at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center about two hours after the early-morning shooting, hospital spokeswoman Jan Walker said. Hospital and sheriff’s officials would not describe his wounds, but witnesses said he was shot in the stomach and chest.
Sheriff’s Department Lt. Richard J. Olson said deputies received a report that a prowler was trying to break into a home on La Suen Road with two women and a child inside. When confronted near a door to the house, the suspect allegedly aimed the pistol at deputies.
The slaying was the 13th officer-involved shooting in Orange County this year. Since January, five people have died of gunshot wounds inflicted by uniformed officers.
Sheriff’s officials and the district attorney’s office declined to provide more details of the shooting, saying that they feared compromising the ongoing investigation.
But the people who lived at the house where the shooting occurred said they believe the man had been prowling around their home for about three hours.
Jackie Ruple, her 4-year-old daughter and her mother, Fern Aimo, were at home alone when Aimo said she heard several strange noises outside the house about 9 p.m.
“We didn’t really think much of it,†said Ruple, and the women eventually went to bed.
But shortly before midnight, Aimo heard another loud noise outside the house. Ruple said she crept to the rear of the darkened house and saw a man trying to pry open the sliding glass door near the kitchen.
“I told my mom to get in my room and call the police,†Ruple said. About five minutes later, as Aimo flashed the bedroom lights on and off in an attempt to scare the prowler, deputies arrived to find that the man had already removed a screen door and was attempting to break the glass door lock with a small pocket knife.
The deputies then ordered the man to surrender, Olson said. When the suspect pointed a gun at them, one of the deputies opened fire, he said.
“Just a few more minutes and he would’ve been in the house,†said Jackie Ruple’s husband, Randy Ruple, who arrived shortly after the shooting. “Thank God for the police.â€
“I feel sorry for him, that he died, but nobody made him do that,†said Randy Ruple, a self-employed landscaper. “For some reason, I wish he would’ve made it (survived) . . . so we could find out what he was thinking. Who knows? Maybe I would have given him a job.â€
The Ruples’ house may not have been the only residence that the suspected prowler targeted overnight.
Members of a family living near the Ruple house said they were watching television when they heard a bump on their glass door.
Engrossed by the television show, however, a 17-year-old boy who was lounging on a couch with his 8-year-old sister decided not to investigate, call police or awaken his parents, said his mother, who asked that the family members not be identified.
“I got so mad at him,†the mother said when she found out that a prowler may have had attempted to break into their home. “He should have told me. We were so very lucky that nothing happened to us.â€
Correspondent Len Hall contributed to this report.
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