Update: Law enforcement officials just released new information regarding the officer involved shooting that took place last evening in Wildomar.
The victims, a father and son, arrived at the residence to drop the son off at his mom’s house. When they honked the horn to alert the mother of their arrival, Richard Mount, Jr., 54 of Wildomar began firing off rounds from an assault rifle.
Mount is reportedly an acquaintance of the victim’s mother, Sgt. Lisa McConnell said.
McConnell added no bullets struck the victim’s vehicle and that a custody dispute doesn’t appear to be an issue.
Mount was booked into the Southwest Detention Center on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Original Story:
One man was injured during an officer-involved shooting following a standoff that lasted several hours in Wildomar Tuesday evening.
Officers gather at a command post at the intersection of Bundy Canyon Road and Harvest Way East in Wildomar. (Joe Fanaselle/SWRNN)
According to Sergeant Lisa McConnell with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, officers with the Wildomar Police Department responded at 7:13 p.m. to a home in the 24000 block of Mercer Lane after receiving a 9-1-1 call about an assault with a deadly weapon.
A man was driving his son to the home which sits on a large property in the sparsely populated area, McConnell said.
The property is in Wildomar, but borders Menifee as well.
As the man and his son pulled up to the home, they honked the horn and immediately had shots fired at them. They retreated from the property and called 9-1-1, McConnell said, prompting the response from officers.
Neither the man nor his son were injured in the initial shooting.
As officers approached the property, they continued to hear gunfire, McConnell said, adding that multiple shots had been fired throughout the entire ordeal.
Several officers from the Wildomar Police Department, Menifee Police Department, Lake Elsinore Police Department and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department responded and a perimeter was established, McConnell said.
A command post was established at the intersection of Bundy Canyon Road and Harvest Way East. At one point, over 30 police vehicles were parked near the intersection, prompting passing motorists to slow down and observe the police activity.
For several hours, officers placed telephone calls into the home and made several announcements over a loudspeaker from a helicopter overhead, but no response was ever received from inside the home, McConnell said.
The spotlight from a Sheriff’s Department helicopter illuminates the home and property where an officer involved shooting occurred Tuesday evening in Wildomar. (Joe Fanaselle/SWRNN)
Shortly after 10 p..m, a man emerged from the home with a rifle in his hand, and an officer involved shooting took place.
Menifee Resident Jaron Shedrick, 20, said he could hear the helicopter circling the property from his home nearby shortly after 9 p.m.
He parked his vehicle near the property to observe the activity and shortly after 10 p.m., he heard four or five gunshots along with several police officers yelling. A minute or two later, there were three or four more shots, Shedrick said.
The suspect was injured in the shooting, although it was not clear whether he had actually been hit by the officers’ gunfire, McConnell said.
She said it was believed that the suspect was an acquaintance of the victims but was not related to them. He was transported to a local hospital with injuries that were said to be non life-threatening.
McConnell said two officers discharged their firearms during the event, and both would be put on paid administrative leave, per department policy.
Following the shooting, members of the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau made access to the property and home. They performed a thorough and meticulous search, which turned up no additional suspects, prompting the area to be declared safe, McConnell said.
By 2:20 am, the command post had been broken down and most of the police activity in the area had been terminated.
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