See Update No. 2 at the end of this post with police providing more details, including why two gun were found at the scene. Update No. 1 identified the man shot by police.
ORIGINAL POST, SEPT. 3, 12:55 P.M.: While serving an arrest warrant for lewd acts involving a child, an Irvine Police officer shot someone, according to a department spokesperson.
Someone was hospitalized in unknown condition following the shooting at a residential complex on Crested Bird just north of Irvine Boulevard, according to Lt. Julia Engen.
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Orange County Fire Authority officials confirmed it was one man who was taken to a hospital.
A witnesses at the scene said children were playing in the area when a woman ran into the residential complex's leasing office and yelled there was a man with a rifle nearby.
More details to come …
UPDATE NO. 1, SEPT. 3, 3:07 P.M.: Ronald Williams, 35, has been identified as the man shot by police as he was being served a search warrant tied to his alleged lewd acts with a child.
The shooting broke out about 10:40 a.m. in the parking lot near the leasing office of the new Doria apartment complex in 1100 block of Crested Bird, according to Irvine Police Lt. Julia Engen.
No officers were injured, but Williams was taken to a hospital in unknown condition from injuries in the shooting, according to Engen, who reportedly told City News Service, “I understand he was talking to paramedics and he was lucid.” He was arrested at the hospital, she added.
Two handguns were found at the shooting scene, according to Engen.
Some apartment units are still under construction at the complex, and some who witnessed the unfolding drama were prospective tenants. One told the media children were running around outside as shots were fired. Police eventually escorted some people out of the locked-down complex.
UPDATE NO. 2, SEPT. 4, 7 A.M.: Irvine Police say it was detectives who confronted Ronald Williams as part of a sexual assault investigation. As they were attempting to detain the 35-year-old Irvine resident, he was shot by a detective, reads a statement from Lt. Julia Engen, the department spokeswoman.
Williams was treated at the scene by Orange County Fire Authority paramedics and taken to a local hospital, where he was later placed under arrest on suspicion of lewd or lascivious acts with a child.
The statement mentions “a handgun” was recovered at the scene of the shooting. In a separate email, Engen explained her earlier statement about two guns being found there. One indeed turned out to be a real firearm, she said, but the other was cigarette-lighter replica.
The police department and Orange County District Attorney's office are each investigating the officer-involved shooting.
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