SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KABC) — San Diego police fatally shot a man after he set a police K-9 on fire and then set himself ablaze inside an adult video store, authorities said.
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The incident happened Wednesday morning in the North Park neighborhood, where the man was allegedly smashing car windows with a metal rod, according to San Diego police.
Police said the man then ran down the street and entered an adult video store armed with a blowtorch and flammable liquid.
Officers initially attempted to stop the man with nonlethal rounds before deploying Ryder, a police K-9, to get the suspect to come out of the store.
Police said the man then burned the dog on its neck and around its face. Three officers suffered burns to their hands while trying to extinguish the flames on the K-9, according to authorities.
Cellphone video captured by a San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV reporter shows at least one officer standing outside the store with a firearm drawn and aimed inside.
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Police said the suspect then set himself on fire and approached officers, prompting them to open fire. The video shows officers performing CPR on the suspect as he lay on the ground outside the business.
The unidentified suspect was taken to a hospital, where he died several hours later, police said.
A nearby resident described the incident as unlike anything he had previously witnessed.
“I haven’t seen anything like that before,” the resident said.
“It only makes me worried as a resident living here that someone, anyone who has mental health issues or someone who is on some kind of drug can find a blowtorch and start burning people,” he added.
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The injured K-9 is expected to recover.
The investigation is ongoing.
