Deputies shoot and kill rifle-wielding man in Hemet

By Stephanie D. Schulte, on March 21, 2012, at 10:31 am

(Flickr Creative Commons)

Officers shot and killed an armed man after responding to a domestic violence call.

Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies from the Hemet station received a call regarding a report of an assault with a deadly weapon on Tuesday March 20 at around 6 p.m., officials reported.

The woman caller told the dispatcher that her boyfriend had just shot her in the head with a rifle after beating her up and threatened to slit her throat with a broken piece of glass. She also advised that her boyfriend tried to burn down the house.

The caller then told dispatch that her boyfriend said that if the cops showed up there would be a shootout, a Riverside County Sheriff’s press release stated.

Upon arrival, deputies immediately started searching for the suspect and found him in the backyard of a nearby residence in the 43000 block of Acacia Avenue.

He was attempting to hide behind a bush and was armed with a rifle. The suspect raised the rifle towards the officers after they demanded he put it down. A deputy fired one shot and the suspect was hit, a report stated.

Deputies immediately rendered first aid to the injured suspect and called Cal Fire and ambulances to the scene. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he died a short time later.

The deceased man’s identity is being withheld pending the notification to his next of kin. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

UPDATE: Riverside County Coroners just released name of deceased suspect: 33-year-old Kenneth Blomberg.

Per department policy, the deputy involved in the shooting was placed on paid administrative leave. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call Investigator Wortman of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit at (760) 393-3500 or Investigator Paz of the Hemet Sheriff’s Station at (951) 791-3400.

Stephanie D. Schulte is a writer/photographer for SWRNN. She can be reached at stephanie.schulte@swrnn.com.