*UPDATE*Purse snatcher pulled a fake gun before he was shot...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Police: Purse snatcher showed a handgun before being shot
A woman who accompanied the suspect turned herself into police.
By KIMBERLY EDDS and SERENA MARIA DANIELS
The Orange County Register
LA HABRA – A suspected purse snatcher pulled a fake gun before he was shot dead by a retired sheriff’s deputy, police said today. The former deputy had his wife in the passenger seat when he chased the robbery suspect through La Habra.
The District Attorney’s office is investigating Monday’s shooting.
A woman who was riding in the same car as the suspected purse snatcher ran off after the shooting. She turned herself in at the La Habra police station Monday night, La Habra police spokeswoman Cindy Knapp said.
Shawna Mare Howe, 28, of Las Vegas, was booked on suspicion of robbery, murder and felony assault, Knapp said.
Under California's felony murder law, if a felony crime results in a death, anyone suspected in the crime can also be charged with murder.
La Habra police have opted for the District Attorney’s office to investigate because the incident involved a retired peace officer, spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.
The deadly chase started just after 5 p.m. Monday, when a woman called 911 to say that her purse had been grabbed from her in the Sam’s Club parking lot in the 1300 block of South Beach Boulevard, Knapp said.
While the dispatcher was taking the 911 call about the robbery, a second call came in from a man who told dispatchers he was pursuing a gray Honda occupied by the people he thought were the purse thieves, Knapp said.
The chase came to an end at the La Habra Woods apartments in the 700 block of West Imperial Highway.
There, the man in the grey Honda pulled out a gun, later determined to be a fake gun, before he was shot dead Knapp said. Aerial footage from news helicopters showed what appeared to be a body under a purple tarp under a carport in the complex.
His female companion ran off after the shooting. It was not immediately clear who was driving the Honda, Knapp said.
The shooter, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, is cooperating with police, Knapp said.
The retired deputy and his wife were not hurt, Knapp said.
Under California law, law enforcement agencies can allow officers who retire in good standing to carry concealed weapons.
The retired deputy’s name or the name of the dead man have not been released by authorities.
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