Chase suspect captured in Beachwood area of Merced after officer-involved shooting

A Merced police officer opened fire at the driver of vehicle Thursday afternoon after a confrontation on campus that ultimately led officers on a high-speed chase through the city.

The driver, later identified as John Barragan, 33, of Atwater, sped away from the officer around 1:28 p.m., according to the Merced Police Department, which oversees campus police.

Lt. Jay Struble said the officer, whose name was not released Thursday, initially was trying to stop the car for driving recklessly on campus.

The driver may have tried to strike the officer with his car, according to multiple officials.

Officers chased the car from campus to the area of West Olive Avenue and M Street and then to the area of Fairfield Drive and M Street. Exactly what happened next remained unclear Thursday, but the officer fired at least one gunshot “at the suspect and the suspect vehicle,” police said in a statement.

“The suspect then fled the scene, in the vehicle, and Merced College Police pursued the suspect again,” officers said.

Numerous officers from Merced police, California Highway Patrol, Merced County probation and Merced sheriff’s deputies joined the high-speed pursuit, which went into the Beachwood-Franklin area on the western outskirts of unincorporated Merced.

Sheriff Vern Warnke happened to be in the Beachwood area and spotted the car being chased by law enforcement. Warnke joined the chase, pursuing the man through a field.

“The suspect ran from the vehicle in the area of Belcher Avenue and W. Santa Fe,” Merced police said in the statement.

Officers surrounded the area and captured the man a short time later, hiding in the backyard of a home just off Franklin Road.

Warnke said schools were not locked down because authorities quickly surrounded the area and made the arrest. The sheriff said schools were notified, but that officers and deputies “were on (the suspect) so fast he could not have made it to the schools.”

Capt. Bimley West said the man would be examined by medical staff before being booked into jail. West also confirmed an internal investigation will be conducted into the use of force as a matter of routine procedure. He also said the officer was placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure in officer-involved shooting investigations.

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Chase suspect captured in Beachwood area of Merced after officer-involved shooting."