Hello, I'm Riverside County Sheriff
Chad Bianco.
This critical incident message
is regarding a deputy involved
shooting that occurred on Wednesday
April 26th, 2023
in the area of Meadowbrook
Avenue and Peach Street
in the unincorporated area of Perris.
When we have a critical incident
we want to share as much information
as possible
as soon as the investigation allows.
On Wednesday, April 26th at 7:08 p.m.,
the Riverside County Sheriff's
Special Enforcement
Bureau was in the 27000
block of Greenwald Avenue
attempting to locate Ricky Owen Dowling,
a wanted felon,
for two outstanding warrants,
one for torture and mayhem,
spousal abuse and sexual acts by force,
the other for kidnapping to commit rape
and rape by force or fear.
Deputies saw a subject
matching Dowling's description,
leave a residence in a vehicle
and attempted a vehicle stop.
The suspect failed to yield
and a vehicle pursuit was initiated.
The pursuit traveled
through the county area of Perris
and ended at Telford
Avenue and Peach Street
when the suspect lost
control of the vehicle while
trying to avoid a tire deflation device.
The suspect was positively identified
as Dowling when he exited the vehicle.
Dowling pointed a handgun
at pursuing deputies,
fired the weapon,
and a deputy-involved shooting occurred
after Dowling was struck by gunfire.
The deputies rendered medical aid until paramedics responded.
Dowling was later pronounced deceased at the scene.
As a warning,
some viewers may find
this video disturbing
and it is not suitable for children.
We will now show you
video footage from the helicopter.
He missed the spikes.
Missed the spikes.
He TC’d
just passed Telford and Peach.
still rolling uh stand by.
Telford and Peach TC’d
still rolling.
Watch crossfire,
doors open, and stand by.
Shots fired, shots fired,
shots fired suspect down.
We will now show you the body
worn camera video of the involved deputies.
backup, backup, backup, backup.
[unintelligible]
Here are Dowling's actions again
in slow motion.
The suspect, Ricky Owen
Dowling, was a 64-year-old
resident of Lake Elsinore.
The firearm used by Dowling
and recovered at the scene
was a Polymer P-80 semi-automatic handgun.
When we have a deputy-involved
shooting, multiple investigations
are automatically launched.
An investigator
from the Riverside
County District Attorney's Office
will lead this investigation,
aided by the Riverside County
Sheriff's Force Investigations Detail,
and Central Homicide Unit.
This combined investigation
will examine
Dowling's actions
and the deputy-involved shooting.
This is an active and
ongoing investigation.
This incident, like all deputy-involved
shootings, will ultimately be reviewed
by the Riverside County
District Attorney's Office.
Additionally,
our department will internally review
and evaluate
the actions of our deputies
with our policy and training standards.
We take each use of force very seriously
and make every effort
to de-escalate these situations
whenever possible.
Thank you for watching.