Big Sur officers kill I680 death suspect

The suspect in a recent fatal shooting on Interstate 680 in Milpitas was shot to death by state park police on a remote trail in Big Sur, the Monterey County District Attorney and California Highway Patrol said Thursday.

A park officer at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park shot Kevin Anthony Alaniz, 26, of Milpitas on Saturday as officers responded to reports that a wildeyed man was yelling and shooting at hikers.

Last week, the CHP identified Alaniz as the suspect in a fatal cartocar shooting June 17 on northbound Interstate 680 near Capitol Avenue in Milpitas. Matthew Rios, 30, was killed in the shooting, and an arrest warrant for homicide was issued for Alaniz.

When three state Department of Parks and Recreation officers were sent to investigate a report of a man yelling and shooting at hikers on the Mount Manuel Trail in Big Sur, they were unaware their suspect was wanted in the freeway killing, officials said. CHP officers had no idea Alaniz had fled to Big Sur, where he was apparently hiding out.

Hikers encountered Alaniz at around 5:15 p.m. near the 3,500foot summit, officials said.

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said the man had gotten “in their faces,” yelled, “This is my world” at them, and then fired shots at them when they got about a quarter mile away. One of those shots, she said, whizzed past the head of one hiker before lodging in a tree.

It took about 45 minutes before the hikers were able to get cell phone service and call state parks police. They continued to flee downhill, warning uphill hikers to turn back. The three state parks officers met with the witnesses about 4.2 miles from the top, and continued up the steep trail’s many switchbacks, looking for the gunman, Pacioni said.

They spotted him at about 7 p.m., shirtless, wearing a backpack and walking calmly downhill. When they asked him to stop and put his hands up, he did not and kept walking toward the officers, Pacioni said. When he was about 65 feet away, they saw him remove a black handgun from his right waistband. One officer reported hearing a single shot.

Officer Brian Powell fired three shots from his semiautomatic rifle but Alaniz continued approaching them with his gun drawn. He fired three more shots and Supervising Officer Matthew Khalar fired three from his shotgun, officials said. They lost sight of Alaniz, and used a drone to verify that he was down and not moving.

They confirmed that Alaniz was dead, and found that he was armed with a 10mm Glock and carrying more than 300 rounds of “particularly vicious” ammunition that’s marketed as “the last round you’ll ever need,” Pacioni said. Alaniz was struck and killed by three shotgun rounds, she said.

Sheriff ’s investigators determined that Alaniz arrived at the state park Friday evening, parked his car near the Big Sur Lodge and stashed some of his belongings in a makeshift camp near the summit. Pacioni said the investigation into the officerinvolved shooting is in its early stages and that toxicology test results are not yet available. She said investigators found what they suspect are psychedelic mushrooms among his belongings.

It is not clear yet, she said, whether the Glock, which Alaniz bought legally, was the same weapon used in the I680 shooting. CHP Officer Ross Lee said officers have confirmed that Alaniz knew Rios.

“It was a targeted incident,” he said, “and not a random shooting.”