RIVERSIDE, Calif., Nov. 8 (UPI) -- An unidentified truckdriver escaped after shooting dead a Riverside, Calif., policeman who had stopped him, the police chief said Monday.
Officer Ryan Bonaminio was shot at 9:52 p.m. Sunday after making the stop related to a reported hit-and-run accident, Chief Sergio Diaz told the Riverside Press-Enerprise.
The officer spotted the truck traveling southbound on Market Street from Highway 60 and stopped it at Fairmount Park, the chief said. The trucker ran into the park, and the officer ran after him.
Backup officers found Bonaminio lying on the ground, wounded. He was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he died.
The officer had four years on the force and was an Iraq war veteran, Sgt. J.B. Brennan told the Los Angeles Times.
At least 10 big rigs were idled Monday because a local distribution center is shut down, apparently because of the shooting. "Some nut is running around with a gun," one driver said.
Bonaminio's patrol car was still parked on Market Street, the city's main thoroughfare, and the area was cordoned off.
"They're still looking around the area," a California Highway Patrol officer said. "That person is armed and dangerous, he has already killed an officer."
