In less than a month, there have been four killings, including three shootings, of local residents by San Bernardino County law enforcement officers.
Three of those occurred this week.
On Thursday, January 22, an officer-involved shooting took place in Riverside after San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officers, including detectives and deputies, attempted to apprehend Jaque Rabon, 23 of Loma Linda, whom the department referred to as a “high-risk” suspect. Those officers, including members of the department’s specialized enforcement division, had obtained a felony arrest warrant for Rabon, who had a history, according to the department, of “utilizing explosives and was reasonably believed to be armed.” The no-bail arrest warrant for Rabon was based on his alleged involvement in a robbery, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The attempted arrest, however, was not effectuated cleanly, and Rabon led the enforcement party on a pursuit through Riverside at around 10 a.m. The chase came to an end at the Tyler Mall, where the suspect led deputies into a parking lot at 3782 Tyler Street. A shoot-out took place and Rabon was killed.
The immediate vicinity of the parking lot where the shooting occurred was closed off to allow detectives with the Riverside Police Department to conduct an investigation into the shooting.
In addition to the Riverside Police Department’s inquiry, the California Department of Justice/Attorney General’s Police Shooting Investigation Team initiated an investigation in accordance with Assembly Bill 506 guidelines. Upon completion of the investigation, a report will be turned over to Department of Justice’s special prosecutions section within the criminal law division for independent review.
Roughly 12 hours before the shooting in Riverside, a Chino police officer shot and killed a man the Chino Police Department said shot at the officer during a traffic stop on Wednesday night, January 21.
According to the Chino Police Department, one of its patrol officers made a traffic stop of a woman driver in the 12800 block of Central Avenue at around 10 p.m. following an observed violation of the California Vehicle Code.  In the passenger seat was an as-yet publicly unidentified man. According to the department’s narrative of the event, the passenger was asked to get out of the car, at which point he became combative and drew a gun. That gun discharged at least once. An officer at the scene returned fire and fatally wounded the man, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
According to the department, one of the police officers involved in the traffic stop was injured. That injury was not life threatening, according to the department, and after treatment at a hospital, was released.
Under standard protocol, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s specialized investigations division investigates officer-involved shootings by the Chino Police Department. Additionally, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office reviews these cases to determine if the actions of an officer or officers involved in a fatal shooting are lawful.
According to statements, the suspect’s handgun, found at the scene of the shooting, has been secured, but it is not publicly known whether it is in the possession of the police department or the sheriff’s department. California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced that the California Department of Justice, pursuant to Assembly Bill 1506, is investigating and will independently review the sheriff’s department’s and the district attorney’s office’s findings with regard to the January 21 shooting.
The day before that, in the early morning of Tuesday January 20, an Ontario police officer attempted to make a stop of a black BMW sedan at North Vineyard Avenue and Rosewood Court. The driver did not comply, and instead headed south on Vineyard 0.34 of a mile and got onto the I-10 Freeway, headed west. The officer gave chase and the pursuit ended when the suspect attempted to exit the freeway at Euclid Avenue. That freeway off-ramp does not empty onto north-south Euclid but rather east-west Seventh Street, which entails a relatively abrupt nearly 90-degree right hand turn. The driver of the BMW, who has not been publicly identified, lost control and crashed into a tree. He died at the scene. He was the lone occupant of the vehicle.
The officer, similarly, lost control his patrol car in trying to make the freeway exit, but was not injured.
The Ontario Police Department is looking into the matter to determine if the officer acted within department policy. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the fatal collision.
Another man whose identity has not been publicly disclosed was shot and killed by Fontana Police on December 31, 2025. The department has characterized the dead man as a “drug dealer.”
According to the Fontana Police Department, several members of the department were involved in an operation near the Taco Bell at Foothill Boulevard and Mango Avenue after 1:30 p.m. that day when the individual in question, who was wanted on suspicion of selling street drugs, was spotted. When officers attempted to detain him, they say he made an effort to flee. While in his vehicle, police say, he drove into “multiple police vehicles and a bystander’s vehicle.” Police opened fire and the suspect was mortally wounded. He was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, where he was pronounced dead.
The department said the man was “wanted in connection with the sale and trafficking of a large quantity of narcotics, primarily fentanyl.”
That shooting is under an Assembly Bill 1506 investigation by the California Attorney General’s Office.
There was a nonfatal shooting of a man by sheriff’s deputies in Apple on New Years Day after he allegedly threatened them with a deadly weapon other than a firearm.
Deputies shot and wounded a man who they say pulled an “edged weapon” during a foot chase in Apple Valley on Thursday, January 1.
That incident took place around 10:30 p.m. that evening when deputies were called to the 17900 block of Highway 18 in response to what was said to be an individual “acting erratic and creating a hazard in the roadway,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
The man in question fled when deputies arrived, heading across Highway 18. Two deputies pursued the man, subsequently identified as Anthony Thomas Bray, 38 of Apple Valley. When the deputies caught up with him, according to the department, “Bray resisted arrest and presented an edged weapon,” the statement said. “A lethal force encounter occurred, and Bray was struck by gunfire.”
He was transported to a hospital, where he was in critical condition, but is yet still alive.
The same cannot be said Charles Murray, who barricaded himself in his home in the 12500 block of Bermuda Court in Victorville on December 3, 2025 when he was confronted by sheriff’s deputies.
Deputies went to Murray’s residence at about 3:45 p.m. to serve a search warrant there, while a department helicopter hovered overhead. Murray, according to the department, was shot and killed by deputies when he resisted the entry attempt and initiated a gunfight in the midst of a residential neighborhood.
According to the sheriff’s department, previously, “On Friday, November 28, 2025, deputies from the Central Station conducted a traffic stop on Waterman Avenue and Highland Avenue in San Bernardino. During the traffic stop, deputies contacted Charles Murray, who was believed to be in possession of a firearm. Deputies ordered Murray to exit the vehicle, and he fled in his vehicle at a high rate of speed. A pursuit was initiated but terminated shortly after when Murray drove at excessively high speeds. Warrants were issued for Murray’s arrest and a search of his home.”
According to the department, “On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, deputies with the Victorville Sheriff’s Station and personnel from the specialized enforcement division (SWAT) attempted to serve search and arrest warrants at Murray’s residence on Bermuda Court in Victorville. While attempting to serve the warrants, Murray armed himself with a firearm and began firing at deputies and a Sheriff’s aviation unit helicopter. During the incident, an uninvolved second person in the home exited and was rescued. After the rescue, Murray exited his residence and fired at deputies from the backyard. A lethal force encounter occurred, and Murray was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
The sheriff’s specialized investigations division responded to the incident and assumed the investigation. The California Department of Justice/Attorney General’s Police Shooting Investigation Team undertook an Assembly Bill 506 investigation of Murray’s killing.
-Mark Gutglueck