A 34-year-old man faces attempted murder charges after a sheriff’s deputy was wounded in an exchange of gunfire during a hit-and-run investigation last week in Southern California, authorities said.
Deputies searching for a hit-and-run suspect Wednesday evening in Palm Desert, near Palm Springs, came upon a vehicle with two people inside, the Riverside County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
As the driver was being detained, the passenger fired at deputies and at least one fired back, the sheriff’s office said. One deputy and the passenger were both shot and hospitalized in stable condition.
The vehicle’s driver, a 34-year-old resident of Desert Hot Springs, was initially arrested on an outstanding warrant. Due to his “actions and involvement during the incident” he was later charged with attempted murder of a peace officer, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Saturday.
The passenger and the deputy, who were not identified, remained hospitalized Saturday.
The deputies will be placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, per department rules, the initial news release said.
Investigators from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the California Highway Patrol are leading the investigation.
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