EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to include additional information about the deceased, Eric Scott Anderson.
ENCINITAS — Two San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies were involved in the fatal shooting of an armed homeless man who was reported to be lurking around a Leucadia neighborhood earlier this morning, according to a sheriff’s spokesperson.
At approximately 8:00 a.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a suspicious male in a residential area in the 1500 block of Eolus Avenue. The officers eventually made contact with Eric Scott Anderson, 40, of San Diego, on a hillside between Eolus and Orpheus avenues, Lt. Amber Baggs told The Coast News.
At some point during the interaction, Anderson allegedly pulled out a handgun, prompting both deputies to open fire on him, Baggs said. Anderson was shot twice — once in the torso and another in the leg, according to the sheriff’s department.
Both deputies performed life-saving measures on Anderson before emergency personnel took him to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
No deputies were injured during the incident, according to law enforcement.
The Medical Examiner’s Office conducted the autopsy on June 19 and positively identified Anderson. The preliminary cause of death is “gunshot wound” and the manner of death as “homicide.”
The subject’s firearm was recovered and photos of the weapon were released on social media by the sheriff’s department.
The sheriff’s Homicide Unit has assumed responsibility for the investigation and Orpheus Avenue will likely remain closed for most of the day. At least one investigator with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) was observed at the crime scene.
Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Seiver confirmed the ATF is assisting local law enforcement to identify Anderson’s firearm and how he came to possess the handgun.
Seiver told The Coast News that Anderson had been homeless for approximately two years, living a mostly transitory life in the city of San Diego and appeared to be new to Encinitas.
1/3 Here’s what we know so far about a deputy-involved shooting in @EncinitasGov. Just before 8:00 a.m. a neighbor in the 1500 block of Eolus Avenue called to report a suspicious person. Two deputies contacted the suspect. At some point the man pulled out a gun. pic.twitter.com/zG7ctUcClN
— San Diego Sheriff (@SDSheriff) June 18, 2021
