Police involved in gun battle; four killings probed

Cathy Scott

Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A street gun battle with a Metro Police officer early today sent a man to the hospital just after police say he fatally shot his live-in girlfriend in the head.

The shootout marked the fourth homicide since Friday.

Police were called about 12:15 a.m. to 2270 N. Lamb Blvd. after neighbors reported hearing gunshots inside the house.

The suspect, identified as 27-year-old James Cross, "was en route from his house to his parent's home when an officer saw a car driving erratically," homicide Lt. Larry Spinosa said. "The cop saw a car speeding and had a hunch it was him."

The officer chased after it and, after several minutes, the car "came to a skid" and Cross "bailed out of the vehicle and went to the ground," Spinosa said. The officer parked his patrol car in front of Cross' car, in front of 135 Sir Noble.

"(The suspect) came back up with a gun and fired several shots at the officer," he said.

The officer returned fire, hitting Cross twice in the lower torso. Inside the man's car was a 5-year-old girl, who was not injured.

Cross ran up to a house and went inside, Spinosa said.

The officer followed him and was told by a couple inside that the suspect was their son. Police found Cross hiding in a bedroom. He was combative, and officers, who had arrived to back up the first officer, had to fight to get him handcuffed, Spinosa said.

Cross ignored pleas from his father and demands from police, telling officers to kill him, Spinosa said.

Paramedics arrived and took the man to University Medical Center, where he was in critical but stable condition today, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The name of the officer who shot Cross will not be released for 48 hours, per Metro's policy. The officer was not injured.

The dead woman's identity was not released pending notification of her family.

Metro Police are also investigating three other weekend murders:

* A homeless man was discovered dead by a friend who was walking through a desert area near Bonanza Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard about 7 p.m. Sunday.

Police have determined that the man had been killed a few days earlier and died from severe head wounds. His name has not been released.

* Kevin Devon Sutton, 18, has been arrested in the shooting death of 17-year-old Tyrell Arthur Nolen after a heated argument in an apartment on Torrey Pines Drive just south of Smoke Ranch Road, police said. Neighbors notified police after they heard the argument end in gunfire about 1:15 a.m. Sunday.

Officers arrived and found the teen injured from multiple gunshot wounds, said homicide Sgt. Ken Hefner. Paramedics were unable to revive him.

Sutton was charged with Nolen's murder, police said.

* Late Friday, a shootout after a drug buy in a supermarket parking lot in the 3700 block of Cambridge Street near Twain Avenue left one man dead and another injured, police said.

Police were called just after 11 p.m. and, when they arrived, they found a man dead on the ground with a single gunshot wound to his upper torso.

"When the van pulled into the parking lot, four subjects jumped out of the van and started shooting at individuals standing in the parking lot, who, according to witnesses, are in the parking lot on a daily basis selling narcotics," Spinosa said.

Several men in the parking lot fired back, he said.

One suspect, who was shot in the back, fled on foot but was later arrested after a bartender told police he was in a nearby bar.

Police are looking for the white Chevrolet van involved in the shooting. It has blue printing on one side and tinted windows.

The dead man's identity was not released pending notification of his family. The injured suspect's name also has not been released.

Police are asking anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

SUN REPORTER Karen Zekan contributed to this story.