LEMON GROVE, Calif. — An armed, reportedly suicidal man was shot when three sheriff's deputies opened fire during an altercation inside a Lemon Grove home, authorities said Monday.
Dispatchers received a call around 6:15 p.m. Monday from the man's mother, who reported that she lives out of state but she believed her son was suicidal and had cut himself at a home in the 2100 block of Camino de Las Palmas, north of Ildica Street, San Diego County Sheriff's Lt. Ted Greenawald said.
Three deputies responded to the home and talked to another woman, who informed them that the man was suicidal but had not cut himself, Greenawald said.
Shortly before 6:30 p.m., the deputies went to talk to the man, identified as 34-year-old Shane Felix, inside the home, Lt. Michael Blevins said. When the deputies approached him he took a handgun out from inside his jacket, prompting all three deputies to open fire, Blevins said.
Felix was taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery for multiple gunshot wounds, which were not believed to be life-threatening, Blevins said.
No other injuries were reported.
Once medically cleared, Felix -- who has a prior conviction for arson in 2018 and a prior arrest for being drunk in public -- was expected to be booked for assault with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm, Blevins said.
The names of the deputies involved in the shooting were withheld, but will be released "within the next week," Blevins said.
Detectives with the sheriff's homicide unit, which reviews all deputy-involved shootings, were investigating the incident.
The sheriff's department tweeted a link reminding anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts, or anyone who knows a person having such thoughts, to seek help by calling the county's crisis hotline at 888-724-7240 or visiting up2sd.org.
Deputy-involved shooting in Lemon Grove, 1 man injured
The man was taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery for multiple gunshot wounds, which were not believed to be life-threatening, Blevins said.