Police say a man in the passenger seat fired once at officers before he was shot; a female driver was not hurt.
CHINO, CA — A routine traffic stop turned deadly late Wednesday when a man in the passenger seat allegedly pulled a gun and fired at Chino police officers, prompting return fire that left him mortally wounded on Central Avenue, authorities said.
Police said the stop happened shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday on the 12800 block of Central Avenue, a busy north–south corridor in this San Bernardino County city. Investigators said a vehicle code violation led officers to pull over a car with a woman driving and a man in the passenger seat. During the encounter, the passenger allegedly drew a handgun and fired once, striking no bystanders but injuring an officer during the struggle. The officer’s injury was described as not life-threatening. The man was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Officials did not release the names of the people involved by Thursday afternoon as the investigation continued.
According to police, the stop began around 9:50 p.m. When officers approached the car, they asked the passenger to step out. A struggle followed beside the vehicle before the man “pulled out a weapon and fired one shot,” the department said. Officers returned fire, striking the man. A handgun was recovered at the scene, police said. The woman who was driving the car was not injured. One officer sustained an injury during the confrontation and was treated and released the same night, police said. Central Avenue was closed overnight between Riverside Drive and Washington Avenue while detectives documented the scene under floodlights and marked evidence with placards.
Detectives spent hours canvassing nearby businesses for surveillance video and speaking with drivers who had been diverted from the corridor, police said. The exact reason for the initial stop was not disclosed beyond a “vehicle code violation.” Investigators did not say how many rounds officers fired or how many officers discharged their weapons. The passenger’s identity, age and city of residence were being withheld pending notification by the county coroner. The officers’ names were also not released. No additional injuries were reported. Police said the driver was interviewed and later released as of early Thursday; it was not immediately clear whether she would face any charges stemming from the encounter.
The deadly stop unfolded along a stretch of Central Avenue lined with shops and traffic signals that typically carry steady evening traffic. Officer-involved shootings in the region have drawn heightened scrutiny in recent years, with agencies in San Bernardino County releasing critical incident briefings and body-camera video after major use-of-force events. California law generally requires departments to release body-camera footage of officer-involved shootings within 45 days unless doing so would interfere with an active investigation. In prior incidents, local departments have also published detailed timelines, radio traffic excerpts and scene diagrams to explain key movements before shots were fired. Whether similar materials from Wednesday’s shooting will be made public remains to be determined.
Police said the investigation includes ballistics testing of the recovered handgun, interviews with involved officers and civilian witnesses, and a review of in-car and body-worn camera footage. Standard procedures also call for parallel administrative and criminal inquiries to assess whether department policy and state law were followed. Officials did not announce any immediate briefings or identify which outside agency would lead the criminal review. Road closures lifted before the morning commute, but officers remained at the scene into Thursday collecting physical evidence and mapping shell casing locations. Any potential charges tied to the stop or events leading up to it had not been announced.
Shortly after the road reopened, traffic moved past fresh spray-paint marks on the asphalt and a few lingering cones. A worker at a nearby business described police lights flashing “for hours” as investigators photographed the car stopped against the curb. “They told us to stay back while they cleared the area,” the worker said, declining to be named because the store was not authorized to speak publicly. A driver who encountered the closure on Central Avenue said detours added time to the late-night commute but that officers “were directing cars pretty quickly around the block.” Police did not release 911 audio, but said units arrived within minutes of the initial stop and that paramedics transported the wounded man soon after he was shot.
By Thursday afternoon, police had not released the man’s name or the officer’s, and no video had been publicly posted. The next update is expected after the coroner confirms identification and notifies family. If body-camera footage is released, it would likely be accompanied by a narrated briefing and additional records outlining the sequence of events. For now, investigators say they are reconstructing the timeline and tracing the firearm. The department said additional information will be provided as the case moves forward.
Author note: Last updated January 22, 2026.