Deputies fatally shoot man, rescue 1-year old after standoff in Lancaster

An armed man who barricaded himself in his Lancaster mobile home with a year-old infant following a high-speed pursuit was shot to death Wednesday night by sheriff’s deputies when he allegedly pointed a gun at the child’s head, authorities said.

The fatal shooting occurred around 9:05 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The man was identified by the California Highway Patrol as Fernando Fierro.

The incident began around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20, when CHP officers attempted a traffic stop on a white 2022 Kia SUV that was traveling at 132 mph on SR-14, but the driver (Fierro) failed to yield. During the chase, which occurred on multiple freeways and surface streets in Palmdale and Lancaster, Fierro called the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and said he had a gun and a child in the vehicle, and threatened to shoot at pursuing officers if they didn’t break away from the pursuit, according to a CHP report.

At about 12:42 a.m. Wednesday, Fierro fired shots at pursuing officers, but no officers or vehicles were struck by the gunfire, according to the CHP report.

Fierro eventually came to a stop outside the Lido Estates mobile home park in the 2500 block of East Avenue I and exited the SUV while holding a gun and the infant, CHP officials said. He then backed slowly into a mobile home, beginning the standoff. The CHP contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which dispatched a SWAT team to the scene.

The standoff continued throughout the day on Wednesday and into the evening hours, as negotiators worked to take Fierro into custody and rescue the child.

“The suspect placed a gun to the child’s head while deputy personnel attempted to communicate with him, at which time a deputy involved shooting occurred,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release issued Thursday morning.

“The suspect was treated by medical personnel on scene and pronounced deceased. A firearm was recovered at the scene. The child was not injured during the incident,” the sheriff’s news release states.