The Orange County coroner has identified a man who La Habra police said showed up at their station with a gun before getting into the shootout that left him dead and an officer wounded.
Matthew Tuan Tran, 22, of Anaheim, died shortly after an officer shot him near the front entrance of the station at 150 N. Euclid Street at around 7 p.m. on Friday.
Police said the man identified as Tran came there after a report of a road rage incident near the 5 and 57 freeway interchange — a woman driver called La Habra police saying she was being followed onto side streets.
Lt. James Tigner of the La Habra Police Department said dispatchers instructed that woman to come to their station, so that she would be safe, but also so that the suspect could potentially be arrested.
“We don’t encourage (road rage victims) to go to their homes — we would guide them to the police department. That’s what happened in this case,” Tigner said. “And then the incident just unfolded from there.
Security camera footage released by the department showed the man identified as Tran approaching the police station holding a gray pistol.
What unfolded after that is still under investigation, but La Habra police said the encounter between Tran and the officers who ran to the front entrance quickly turned violent.
Nearby residents heard multiple gunshots coming from the station. When paramedics arrived at the station entrance, Tran was dead and an officer was wounded.
Tigner said the officer was shot once in his upper torso. As of Monday, his recovery was going well.
“(The officer) is itching to get back out there, but the doctors need him to do a few more things first,” Tigner said.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the police shooting. A spokeswoman did not return a request for comment about the investigation.
La Habra police will continue to investigate the apparent road rage incident. It’s not clear yet whether the incident was random or whether the woman and Tran knew each other.
“We’re just trying to get into the ‘why’ part of it,” Tigner said. “Everything is on the table right now.”
Source: Orange County Register
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