Suspect in Clovis officer involved shooting is dead, police say

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Clovis police shot and killed a man they were trying to arrest Thursday afternoon. They were serving a warrant just off Bullard and just west of Highway 168, but the situation escalated quickly. An ID theft and burglary case turned into something much more violent.

Court records show he has a long criminal history and a warrant issued in March on a felony case. Police tried to serve that warrant Thursday afternoon, with a little help from his girlfriend's family.

"Set it up this morning to where he would come and then the police would be here to get him," said Tammi Tompkins, witness.

But it never went quite as planned. Almost as soon as police got to the house, the suspect was onto them. His girlfriend got out of the van and was behind it as police tried to get the man out.

"They came in one end of the alleyway, and as the suspect saw him, he immediately threw it in reverse and then he accelerated forward towards the officers at which time they fired three rounds," said Matt Basgall, Clovis Police Chief.

Ambulances rushed both the suspect and his girlfriend to the hospital.

She came back hours later. He never will. And that may be exactly what he wanted.

Police said they tried to get him to give up calmly, and the people who know him say he planned for his life to end this way.

"He's made the statement more than once that if he was gonna die, it was gonna be suicide by cop. Straight up-- and he always did when he was on his heroin," said Tompkins.

She said he was on heroin again Thursday when he was shot.

The District Attorney's Office is investigating the shooting and the officers who shot are on leave while that happens.

The chief tells Action News this shooting seems 100 percent justified and the witnesses agreed.