Police in Fullerton have recently released body and helicopter camera footage from an incident last month in which officers shot and killed a pursuit suspect after he crashed. The suspect, Austin Heiselman, was shot and killed on February 10, 2023, after a police chase that lasted through Fullerton and La Habra.
The police had found Heiselman in his car near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue, and his car matched the description of a car wanted in connection with an armed robbery in San Bernardino County. When the police attempted to pull Heiselman over, he drove off, leading them on a high-speed chase. During the pursuit, police claimed that Heiselman waved what they thought was a handgun out of the car window. He blew through several red lights and officers tried unsuccessfully to stop him using a PIT maneuver.
The chase ended when Heiselman ran a red light at the intersection of Beach and Imperial boulevards and collided with another car driving through the intersection. Heiselman’s car narrowly missed a tractor-trailer before hitting the other car, flipping over, and catching fire. After the crash, Heiselman got out of the car and ran toward a nearby shopping center, and officers chased him and deployed one of their K9 units.
Body camera footage showed that when the officers rounded the corner and saw Heiselman, he took a shooting stance, and that’s when he was shot. After the shooting, paramedics attempted to save Heiselman’s life but were unsuccessful.
It was later revealed that Heiselman was unarmed, but had two replica guns and replica ammo in his vehicle. According to 911 audio released Monday, Heiselman’s father had called the La Habra Police Department as the pursuit was getting underway, saying that his son “told me he wants to die suicide by cop.”
The California Department of Justice is currently investigating the shooting.
