San Diego police released bodycam footage Thursday of a fatal September confrontation inside a North Park sex shop where a suspect armed with a makeshift flamethrower injured three officers and burned a police dog before being shot dead.
The video captures multiple angles of the September 16 incident that began shortly after 9 a.m. Near El Cajon Boulevard and Oregon Street. Officers had responded to reports of Saul Sandoval Chavez, 33, allegedly acting violently with a metal rod and attempting to break into vehicles, according to police.
Chavez was reportedly carrying a torch lighter and an aerosol container when officers first encountered him. The footage shows the pursuit moving through the neighborhood, with the suspect allegedly damaging vehicles before taunting officers with his improvised weapon.
The chase led Chavez into the Adult Emporium, where he ran inside and allegedly turned the flamethrower on police. As he headed toward a back room, a store employee fled through the main entrance toward officers after being told to “run.”
Inside the business, officers first deployed bean bag rounds in an attempt to subdue Chavez. They then sent in police K-9 Ryder to help apprehend him, but the suspect allegedly turned the makeshift weapon on the dog, leaving Ryder with burns to its face and upper body.
Footage shows an officer moving in before opening fire on Chavez. One of the shots appears to strike an aerosol canister the man was holding, triggering a fireball as he falls to the ground.
Other officers then rush inside and pull Chavez from the shop, attempting to extinguish the flames. Police can also be seen performing CPR on the suspect before he was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
Three officers sustained burn injuries in the incident. Ryder was treated at a veterinary hospital for his injuries.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting, with findings to be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office. The FBI and US Attorney’s Office will monitor the investigation, while San Diego police conduct separate reviews into the incident and whether department policies were followed.
The September 16 standoff marked a violent escalation that began with reports of vehicle break-ins and ended in the cramped aisles of an adult bookstore, with Chavez deploying an improvised incendiary device against both human officers and a police dog before the fatal exchange of gunfire.
The released footage comes as multiple agencies continue parallel investigations into the use of deadly force.