O.C. deputies shoot man who had brandished gun at his ex’s new boyfriend, authorities say

Around 2:30 a.m., deputies responded to a call that a man was causing a disturbance at a home in Rancho Mission Viejo where his ex-girlfriend was.

The woman’s current boyfriend opened the door and saw the other man reach for his waistband before fleeing the scene shortly thereafter, authorities said.

“The boyfriend didn’t see a weapon at the time,” said Sgt. Gerard McCann, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson. “As the deputies are arriving, he reviewed the security footage and saw that the suspect actually possessed a handgun and brandished it.”

Deputies later located the individual, identified only as a man in his 20s, in his vehicle in the 21000 block of Rimgate Drive, a suburban residential neighborhood in Lake Forest.

A short vehicle pursuit ensued until the man came to a stop, exited and ran toward deputies, authorities said.

Deputies opened fire on the suspect at 3:50 a.m. and rendered medical aid. Paramedics transferred him to a nearby hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Authorities said they recovered a large serrated kitchen knife, a semi-automatic handgun and an ammunition magazine at the scene.

The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating, as is routine procedure in such shootings. The Sheriff’s Department is also conducting an internal administrative review.

No deputies were injured. The man who made the disturbance call and his girlfriend were also unharmed.