DOJ investigating after person fatally shot in Alpine by sheriff’s personnel

The state Department of Justice will be investigating a fatal shooting involving one or more sheriff’s deputies in Alpine that occurred Wednesday evening, officials said.

Deputies were called to a home around 6:40 p.m. with a request to check on the welfare of an individual at a home on Kyrsten Terrace Court, said sheriff’s Lt. Sean Gallagher. At some point, a shooting occurred, he said.

Sheriff’s investigators said that what appeared to be a handgun was pointed at deputies during the incident, and it was later determined to be a “replica firearm.”

A news release issued by the state Attorney General’s Office on Thursday said the shooting occurred around 7:30 p.m. and involved “personnel from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.”

It did not say if the person killed was male or female, or provide the age of the deceased person. No details about what led up to the shooting were released.

Sheriff’s officials referred all questions to the state office.

In announcing it would take over the investigation, the DOJ said its shooting investigation team had been assigned and that the case would be turned over to its special prosecution section for review once the investigation was completed. A state law in effect since 2021 calls for the state to investigate all incidents of police shootings that result in the death of an unarmed person.

Under its criteria, guns, knives and BB guns are considered deadly weapons. Replica firearms are not.

The case marks at least the third time the state DOJ has investigated a shooting involving San Diego County law enforcement agencies.

The state is investigating the death of John Ray Romero, 58, who had been holding what appeared to be a real gun to his head during a 2022 encounter in City Heights. The case remains under investigation.

The DOJ is also investigating a fatal shooting in late August involving Escondido police. In that case, police shot and killed a woman following a pursuit that ended in a crash and confrontation on southbound state Route 163 near Interstate 15 in the Miramar area.