A Little Excitement on the Scanner This Morning

I was getting ready for the weekly KHND interview and was working on the laptop and listing to the Orange County Fire dispatch frequencies when I heard a traffic accident call in Laguna Beach. Shortly after the units arrived and started tending to the injured one of the fire captain issued an emergency call: "Shots fired, all units take cover!" He was ordering the incoming units to stage away from the scene until things were under control.

Here's what was going on:

Police have reportedly shot a driver who tried to flee a crash involving four vehicles in Laguna Beach.

Officers with the Laguna Beach Police Department fired shortly after a head-on collision was reported on Pacific Coast Highway and St. Ann's Drive at about 8 a.m., Lt. Jason Kravetz told the Orange County Register.

According to witnesses, the suspect tried to drive away after the crash, prompting an officer to open fire on his vehicle.

Investigators have not said what prompted the shooting, nor have they identified anyone involved.

A black vehicle with gunshot holes in its sides was seen at the intersection, sandwiched between two patrol cars, according to the Register.

It's believed the suspect, in a black Mitsubishi, had been driving the wrong way on PCH pior to the multi-vehicle crash.

Witnesses told the Register that the suspect appeared to have been knocked unconscious after the collision. The engine of the Mitsubishi started up again once police arrived, one witness said.

"He started to drive, he turned, and the car just spun out of the control," said Tim Manriquez, who works at a window-tinting business nearby.

Manriquez said a police officer began to scream at the driver, telling him to stop.

"As the vehicle turned, the officer fired about five times into the car," Manriquez told the Register.

It was not known whether the suspect had a gun.

He was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. His condition was not immediately available.

I'll update it more info comes in.

UPDATE: Suspect info:

A man who was shot by police while witnesses said he was trying to flee the scene of a Laguna Beach crash was identified today as Colby Joshua Koenig, a 25-year-old man from Foothill Ranch.

A 25-year-old driver who was shot by Laguna Beach police after causing a six-car crash has died of his wounds.

Colby Koenig of Foothill Ranch died Tuesday night at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, according to Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.

Laguna Beach police Lt. Jason Kravetz says witnesses saw Koenig speeding on the wrong side of the Pacific Coast Highway when he crashed head-on into traffic at about 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Kravetz says Koenig then tried to drive away from the scene, prompting at least one officer to open fire.

Kravetz says there were officers close enough to the car to shout to the driver and order him to halt.

According to witnesses, the suspect tried to drive away after the crash, prompting an officer to open fire on his vehicle.