By Miriam Raftery

March 2, 2022 (El Cajon) – The Sheriff’s department has identified the officers involved in  February 16, 2022 shooting incident in El Cajon as deputies David Lovejoy and Jonathan Young. Both are assigned to the Lakeside substation and are currently on administrative assignment while an investigation by El Cajon Police Department continues.

Deputy Lovejoy has been with the Sheriff’s department for over eight years and Young has served there for six years, says Lt. Randy  Soulard with the El Cajon Poice Department.

The Sheriff has released video of the incident, which confirms that the driver, T Erik Talavera, 31, exited the van but failed to comply with commands from deputies. He was shot while lying on the ground, reaching for a weapon he had dropped.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo,left by Della Elliott:  A shrine to commemorate 21-year-old shooting victim Fabian Cerda has been created by community members at the site where he was fatally shot. 

May 24, 2020 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police today announced the arrest of George Louis Garcia, 42, following a tense standoff in La Mesa with police from multiple law enforcement agencies. Garcia is charged in the shooting death of Fabian Esteban Cerda, 21, on August 18 in El Cajon.

According to Lt. K. MacArthur with El Cajon Police, Cerda became involved in an argument with Garcia, the former boyfriend of Cerda’s mother around 1:30 a.m. on August 18 in front of 1548 East Main Street in El Cajon. “He was shot several times and later died as a result of the shooting,” Lt. MacArthur says. The victim succumbed to his injuries in an ambulance en route to a hospital.  

Update February 14, 2020:  ECPC has identified the suspect who was shot as Keith Crenshaw, 21, of Arizona. The name of the officer has sitll not been  released.

By Miriam Raftery

February 12, 2020 (El Cajon) – A suspected car thief is hospitalized after being shot twice in the torso by an El Cajon Police officer this morning shortly before 9 a.m.  

According to Lt. Randy Soulard, an out-of-state law enforcement agency informed El Cajon Police Dept. that a stolen tan Kia Amanti sedan from their jurisdiction was in El Cajon.  The reported agency directed officers, who located the stolen vehicle parked in the 500 block of South Johnson.

The officers found a man asleep in the driver’s seat.  “As they planned their approach to arrest the suspect and prevent his escape, he woke up. The officers identified themselves as police officers and immediately began giving repeated commands for the suspect to show them his hands. The suspect refused to show his hands and repeatedly reached under his clothing and into his waistband,” says Lt. Soulard.

He reports that the suspect continued to ignore the officer’s commands and stated something similar to “Shoot me before I do it!” while reaching into his waistband.

Suspect remains at large

November 9, 2013 (El Cajon) – An argument between several men in an El Cajon parking lot ended in gunfire last night, with a bullet striking a woman in her 20s.  One of three children in the vehicle was also injured by broken glass.

Deputies from the Santee Sheriff’s station responded  at 5:09 p.m. to a report of shots fired at 340 East Bradley Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon.  The woman, seated in an SUV at Graves and Bradley, had a bullet wound in her shoulder and a child was struck in the arm by shattered glass. Paramedics from Lakeside Fire took the woman to a hospital, where she was treated for a non-life threatening wound.

January 18, 2013 (El Cajon ) – Raymond Lee Goodlow, 53, of El Cajon is hospitalized after being shot multiple times by an El Cajon Police officer at 9:29 a.m..   According to police, Goodlaw was illegally riding his bicycle on the sidewalk and refused to pull over when an officer attempted to stop him in the 1300 block of East Main.

Police and witnesses say the officer ordered the man to halt and get down on the ground, but that instead, Goodlaw reached into the waistband of his pants.  Fearing that he had a gun, the officer fired several times, witnesses report.

Goodlow did not have a gun. He did, however, have two knives  that were discovered by paramedics while treating his injuries, Lt. Tim Henton said.

October 5, 2012 (El Cajon)--El Cajon Police responded to calls reporting gunshots heard in the 1300 block of Oakdale this evening at 7:40 p.m. Upon arrival, officers found a 22-year-old man with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his leg.

"Officers were able to determine there was some type of argument in the street just prior to the shooting. The victim was transported to an area hospital. It is unclear at this time what led to the shooting," said Lt. Mike Moulton.

By Miriam Raftery

August 22, 2011 (El Cajon) – Officer Jerred Slocum, 38, has been identified as the El Cajon policeman shot last night while responding to a domestic violence call.

May 4, 2011 (El Cajon) - El Cajon Police officers responded to reports of gunshots at a residence on Lorna Street early Monday morning, just after 3:00 a.m. When they arrived, officers discovered a male victim who had suffered multiple injuries.

September 15, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Officers from El Cajon Police Department responded to a 911 call from a man asking for help last night at 10 p.m. The man, 18, had suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his upper thigh. The victim told officers that and his cousin had been sitting in front of 273 Wisconsin when they were confronted by a young, bald Hispanic man. The victim told police the assailant pursued him and shot him in the leg as he fled.

May 26, 2010 (El Cajon)—El Cajon Police have arrested Juan Jose Barba-Hinojosa, 31, and Joshua Gabriel Cordova Sander, 26, for attempted murder. The men are accused of shooting three victims, including a 17-year-old girl and two 18-year-old men last night in El Cajon. Police indicate the crimes may be gang-related.