Vehicle pursuit that began in Orange County ends with shooting in Oceanside

A police pursuit that began in Orange County ended in Oceanside early Saturday with a shooting involving law enforcement that shut down Interstate 5 for hours, authorities said.

Officers with the Buena Park Police Department attempted to pull over a motorist for a vehicle code violation around 12:45 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of La Palma Avenue and San Marino Drive in Buena Park, Sgt. Martin Tomsick said.

The driver took off, leading officers on a pursuit through Orange County, Long Beach and back into Orange County on southbound I-5, Tomsick said.

Officers turned the pursuit over to the California Highway Patrol at 1:05 a.m., but kept their K-9 Unit involved in the chase at the request of the CHP, according to Tomsick.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office dispatched aerial drones at 2:15 a.m. to assist with finding the suspect, according to Lt. Sean Gallagher.

Tomsick said the pursuit ended in gunfire on southbound I-5 in the Camp Pendleton area and that the Buena Park Police Department K-9 officer and at least one CHP officer fired their weapons at a suspect. He had no further information on the suspect’s condition or whether the person who was shot was the driver. It appeared no officers were injured, he said.

I-5 was closed in both directions and a Sigalert was issued shortly after 2:30 a.m. Saturday between Harbor Drive in Oceanside and Christianitos Road in San Clemente, according to the CHP.

CHP Officer Hunter Gerber said all northbound and southbound lanes on I-5 through Camp Pendleton were opened by late afternoon Saturday.