Video Depicts Exchange of Gunfire Before Fatal Shooting of Double Homicide Suspect

Authorities on Friday released footage of a law enforcement shooting that left a double-homicide suspect dead on a Little Italy street last month.

The images, captured by officers’ uniform-worn cameras and bystanders’ cell phones, show Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department personnel exchanging gunfire with Christopher Farrell on the morning of Nov. 13.

Farrell shot one of the officers, leaving him with a hip wound, before two other colleagues returned fire, killing him.

The shootout took place less than an hour after Farrell, 26, allegedly gunned down a former girlfriend and her husband as the couple was sitting in a car on Union Street, three blocks north of the downtown San Diego County courthouse.

The victims, Rachael Martinez, 31, and Jose Medina, 39, died at the scene.

Harbor Police posted the 8:12 video on YouTube. Farrell cannot be seen on the officers’ cameras, though a utility box is visible down the street. Footage from two bystanders shows an armed man aiming a gun at a point beyond the box.

The video does not show Farrell being struck, but the injured officer, Patrick Lynch, is seen collapsing after being wounded.

San Diego police said Farrell, an ex-security guard, had fled to the north on Ash Street, reloading his gun as he went, while officers embarked on a manhunt in the area.

About 45 minutes later, as a helicopter circled overhead broadcasting a description of the shooter, a bystander flagged down Harbor Police officers near Kettner Boulevard and West Juniper Street and directed them to a possible suspect, later identified as Farrell.

As four officers approached Farrell, who was behind the large electrical box, he allegedly opened fire.

Less than 90 seconds elapsed from the time Harbor Police encountered Farrell to the shootout, according to San Diego police.

At the spot where Farrell allegedly fired on the lawmen, detectives found a semiautomatic handgun, shell casings, folding knives and an empty ammunition magazine, investigators said.

Authorities soon determined that the slain woman had recently filed a police report accusing Farrell of domestic violence, including false imprisonment and sex crimes, Campbell said.

On Nov. 7, Martinez was granted a temporary restraining order against Farrell, though it remains unclear if he was served.

A hearing in the case was scheduled for the day of the double homicide, according to police. Investigators believe that Martinez and Medina had parked at the location where they were slain ahead of attending a hearing regarding the restraining order.