Authorities: Deputy fatally shoots man in Mojave Desert

ADELANTO, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California man was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy Monday after he allegedly opened fire first in the Mojave Desert, authorities said.

Ezekiel Lamar Love, 22, was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. No deputies were injured in the shooting.

Deputies were called to Adelanto, a city about 85 miles (135 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles, around 8:20 a.m. following a report of an “unwanted subject” who was damaging property and threatening violence.

Love left the neighborhood before authorities arrived but a deputy spotted him nearby and drove toward him in a marked patrol vehicle, the sheriff’s department said in a news release Tuesday.

Love allegedly began shooting at the deputy, who got out of the vehicle and returned fire, authorities said. Love was struck by gunshots, though the sheriff’s department did not say how many times or where he was hit.

Other details about the shooting were not immediately available.