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Man fatally shot by police in City Heights was ex-boyfriend

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The man who was killed by a San Diego officer after he shot a City Heights family, one fatally, was the ex-boyfriend of one of the women he wounded Sunday night.

According to the county Medical Examiner’s Office, Juan Fernandez, 22, of San Diego went to the apartment of his former girlfriend and her family on Marlbourough Avenue south of University Avenue, authorities said.

Police believe Fernandez got into a fistfight with another man after arriving about 9:15 p.m. He is then suspected of getting a gun from his vehicle and chasing the man he fought down the street.

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The other man was not a family member, police said.

Police said Fernandez then went back to the complex and shot four family members in a courtyard, including his ex-girlfriend. Neighbors said he grabbed her by the hair and was dragging her toward his vehicle when officers arrived.

An officer told Fernandez to drop the gun he was carrying, but he pointed it at the woman instead. Fearing for his own safety and the woman’s safety, the officer took a single shot, killing Fernandez, police said.

The woman, in her 20s, was taken to a hospital for her injuries. Two other members of her family were also taken to hospitals, where one of them died. One victim chose not to be transported.

Search the Union-Tribune’s database of fatal police shootings in San Diego County since 1980 »

Twitter: @LAWinkley

(619) 293-1546

lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com

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