A Huntington Beach police officer survived a gun battle after his badge “deflected” a bullet that may have otherwise struck his heart.
The incident occurred Friday morning near “Bushard Street and Yorktown Avenue,” according to the Orange County Register. The shooting happened after the suspect in a high speed chase “made a U-turn and opened fire on the two approaching” police vehicles.
“One of the bullets struck an officer in the badge,” Huntington Beach department spokesman Jennifer Marlatt said. “The round came through the front windshield of the officer’s car, struck the officer’s badge and deflected off. The round did not go through the badge or hit the officer’s [protective] vest.”
The scene was tense, with one of the officers returning fire from inside his moving vehicle. The pursuit continued for approximately 85 miles, until “the suspect lost control of his car and crashed down an embankment at Cleghorn Road in the Cajon Pass. The vehicle burst into flames, and the driver was killed.”
The officer whose badge was shot is a 10-year veteran of the police force. He was taken to the hospital, treated and released.
“He’s doing great. He’s in really good spirits,” Police Chief Robert Handy said. “It’s safe to say the badge saved his life… This officer was very lucky.”
The chase began when the suspect fled his home after a domestic violence call.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.