Around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, the Porterville Police responded to a possible armed kidnapping on N. Cottage Street. Police say the suspect, who was armed, forced his way into the home and took a female victim against her will and left in a car.
During the investigation, detectives received information that the vehicle involved in the kidnapping was possibly in the Tulare area. Porterville detectives contacted the Tulare Police Department and requested assistance in checking a possible location of the suspect.
Just before 9 p.m. Thursday night neighbors, on a busy section of N. Blackstone Street north of Cross Ave. in Tulare, were startled by a string of gunshots across the street at an apartment complex.
"My kids were in the front living room playing Wii and they heard gunshots. My sister was with them so my sister had them push down to the ground and then get out of the room," said witness Viviana McGill.
"Pop, very loud, and there was so many of them one after another. It was really scary," said witness Jessica Herrera.
When neighbors looked outside they saw a car had crashed into the complex and officers had their guns drawn. "That's when we the second round of shots and that was all three cops at that point we realized they were cops, all three let go and all of them started firing," said Herrera.
So far, Tulare Police are releasing few details -- only saying the suspect was armed, and as a result of the suspect's actions, they were forced to shoot at him. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
The female victim was not in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. She was found unharmed.
Shortly after officers cleared the scene Friday morning, repairmen were at the apartment complex to take a look at all the damage caused by the suspect's car.
The Tulare County Sheriff's Office has been brought in to investigate the incident. The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave. The names of the suspect and the victim have not been released.
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Stay with Action News and ABC30.com for more on this developing story.
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Action News Reporters Shannon Handy and Tommy Tran contributed to this report.
