A gunman in California who is suspected of gunning down a victim in a parked UPS truck has been arrested after a standoff with a SWAT team.
The Irvine Police Department said they first received calls of a shooting in Orange County around 3pm on Thursday, announcing a few hours later, that investigators were conducting a homicide investigation after it was confirmed one victim had been shot.
The suspect had pulled up to a parked UPS van and fired several rounds at the unnamed driver as he was sitting behind the wheel, before fleeing from the area without even exiting his vehicle.
“He literally pulled up next to the UPS truck, shot him and drove away,” Sgt. Karie Davies told the Los Angeles Times. “It looks like it was targeted, but we don’t know the relationship yet.”
Police told KTLA that in their preliminary investigation, they identified a white man, wearing a dark-colored shirt, hit and a face mask as the suspect, but did not name the culprit.
The victim was still sitting behind his steering wheel when first responders arrived, who found him suffering from a gunshot wound.
Around three hours after the police said they launched their investigation, the Irvine Police Department SWAT team arrested a man suspected of committing the homicide, detaining him near Santiago Canyon and the Toll Road, not far from where the shooting occurred.
Aerial footage from ABC7 showed that two SWAT vehicles pulled up to a man inside a silver truck. It then showed officers breaking one of the windows. A K9 was released on the truck before the suspect was finally pulled from the vehicle and arrested, the video shows. The suspect’s name has not been released.
“They ultimately had to force him out of the vehicle with SWAT techniques,” Ms Davies said.
Video footage from local reporters shows a large presence of police and fire officers on the scene of the shooting, littered with shell casings.
A witness who works in a nearby building told KTLA they heard several gunshots, but thought at first it was jackhammering from a nearby construction site.
He also revealed that “from what I’ve been told, [the UPS driver] sometimes parks here and just takes a break.”
"It sounds like, based on witness testimony, this is his normal route," said Sgt. Karie Davies of the Irvine Police Department. "That area where he was shot is normally where he takes his breaks. We don’t know if the suspect was waiting for him to come back after a delivery."
In a statement to Fox11, UPS said that their "hearts are heavy tonight” after hearing of the loss of one of their drivers in Irvine.
“We are assisting authorities however we can to understand what happened,” they wrote. “As a result of the ongoing investigation to find those responsible, we are deferring any additional questions to authorities. The safety and well-being of our employees is our top priority, and we are providing support and counselling services to our employees affected by this tragedy."
The Irvine Police Department thanked the community for their concern as they investigated the “tragic homicide” and added that more information will follow.
“Our hearts are with the victim and his loved ones,” officials wrote.
