A male suspect who claimed he was armed was fatally shot by Orange County sheriff's deputies Tuesday following a standoff in the Camp Pendleton area of San Diego County, authorities reported.
The man was holed up in a car and refused to surrender for nearly an hour before getting out and approaching them in a threatening manner, deputies said.
The events that led to the fatal gunfire began at 12:30 p.m., when a motorist pulled up next to a deputy conducting a traffic stop on another driver on the southbound Las Pulgas Road exit from Interstate 5, made a comment about having committed a crime and said he had a weapon, authorities reported.
The suspect then refused orders to exit the small white sedan and surrender, prompting the deputy to call for backup.
Authorities shut down the entire southbound side of the adjacent freeway along with offramps to Las Pulgas Road during the investigation. The interstate lanes were reopened after about 15 minutes, but the exit ramps remained closed as the stalemate continued.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., deputies opened fire on the man, killing him at the scene, sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said.
Video footage broadcast by CBS News 8 shows the suspect get out of his car, then hold his right arm perpendicular to his body with a jacket or other dark-colored piece of cloth covering his hand and stride off, out of sight behind parked law enforcement vehicles. A moment later, a fusillade of gunfire sounds.
The suspect's name was not immediately available.
The lane closures that resulted from the standoff caused heavy southbound freeway traffic through the afternoon.
