SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Police are expected to release key evidence Tuesday, including surveillance video footage, in the shooting of an off-duty sheriff's deputy in the Gaslamp Quarter.
Since the Monday morning shooting, San Diego police investigators have been gathering clues and reviewing images of the incident captured by surveillance cameras at several businesses in the busy downtown district two blocks south of Westfield Horton Plaza mall.
Deputy Jason Philpot and several other companions -- including two off-duty Escondido police officers -- were walking in the 500 block of Island Avenue just after 1 a.m. Monday when a confrontation with an unknown man took place, police said.
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For reasons that are still under investigation, the unknown man pulled out a gun on the group, prompting Philpot to struggle with him for the firearm. It was at that point when at least three shots were fired, police said.
"We know there was a confrontation," SDPD Lt. Ernesto Servin told reporters. "But what was said? We don't know exactly."
According to police, Philpot was hit three times in the shoulder while another man in the immediate area was struck in the arm by gunfire.
Philpot, an 11-year sheriff's department veteran who serves in the Emergency Services Division, was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center after suffering non-life threatening injuries.
Police said the unidentified bystander, who also suffered non-life threatening injuries, drove himself to an area hospital.
Meanwhile, police launched a manhunt for the suspected shooter -- described as a black man with shoulder-length dreadlocked hair in his 30s, about 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall and weighing 160 to 170 pounds.
The suspect was last seen wearing black shorts and a long-sleeve shirt, and police said witnesses saw him fleeing the scene south on Island Avenue and then east on K Street.
5th, 6th and 7th avenues between Island Avenue and Market Street were shut down throughout Monday morning due to the manhunt/investigation.
Police said investigators -- based on surveillance footage taken in the area -- were also looking for a second man possibly involved in the confrontation. A description of that man was not immediately provided.
"We think there may have been two (men), based on the video, but right now we're focused on the individual with the gun," Servin said.
Servin noted that law enforcement officers are entitled to carry a gun while off duty but said he did not know if any of those involved in the incident were armed.
No other injuries were reported.
