WATCH: Bodycam Released After Deputy Kills Teenager Armed With Rifle In California

Merced County, California (MCSO / News Release) — On April 29, 2023, around 1:00 p.m., Deputies received information was received about potential gang members with firearms in the area of the Winton cemetary. When deputies arrived on the scene, they say they saw several people running out of the cemetery and getting into a vehicle. Deputies say they attempted to stop the vehicle, however, the suspects failed to stop and a chase began. Another deputy joined the pursuit, which deputies say lasted nearly four minutes when the vehicle crashed into a parked car at Suzie Street and Walnut Avenue. Multiple people exited the crashed vehicle and began to run on foot as deputies followed, demanding the suspects stop.

Officials say that deputies lost sight of one of the suspects, identified as 17-year-old Jonathan Daniel Diaz-Duarte, who had taken off into a neighboring apartment complex, carrying what officials believed to be an AR-15 rifle. Another deputy joined the chase and they were able to catch up with Diaz-Duarte as he had tripped and fell onto the gravel in an empty lot. Officials say he turned his gun on the female deputy, firing one shot that hit her in the left ear, which led to her returning fire, striking Diaz-Duarte three times.

Medical personnel arrived shortly after and attempted life-saving measures on Diaz-Duarte, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect’s family members say he had been recently released from juvenile hall and had his ankle bracelet off a day before he was killed.

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