By Doug Saunders

San Bernardino County Sun

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — From a sheriff's helicopter, a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy shot at a man Friday afternoon during a 100 mph pursuit that ended in the man's death, a crash of two SUVs, three people injured and a shutdown of the northbound 215 Freeway.

The man — a suspect in a home-invasion robbery in Fontana a day earlier — led deputies from Fontana, where at about 1 p.m. he failed to stop the gold Chevy Tahoe he was driving when deputies tried a traffic stop. The chase wound from Fontana through San Bernardino and onto the freeway, Deputy Olivia Bozek said.

In the midst of the pursuit, he ended up driving south on the northbound 215 at speeds that topped 100 mph, Bozek said.

That's when one of the two deputies in the sheriff's helicopter, 40-King, fired on the man the copter had been trailing, Bozek said.

It was the wrong-way driving that prompted the deputy to shoot, according to authorities.

"The deputies needed to protect the public and prevent injuries," Bozek said.

The suspect then got out of the vehicle, ran a few yards and collapsed just north of the Little League Drive overpass, Bozek said. The SUV kept rolling, crashing into a blue Dodge Durango with three people inside.

The resulting crash ended with the suspect's mangled Tahoe riddled with bullet holes on the windshield and on the hood.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the man had been wounded by the gunfire or died from other injuries, Deputy Deon Filer told The Associated Press. He died at the scene.

Also crumbled in the crash was the Durango. Its occupants were taken to hospitals. Their genders and ages were not known, but two were in fair condition and the other person was in critical condition, according to hospital officials. All deputies involved were unharmed, said Sheriff John McMahon.

Officer-involved shootings from the air are rare, but not unheard of.

"There is a policy allowing aviation deputies to fire from the air," Bozek said. "It rarely happens but this isn't the first time it's happened."

A police use-of-force expert, retired Placer County sheriff's Sgt. Rocky Warren said shooting a suspect from a police helicopter is both extremely rare and "very difficult."

The last time Warren — a former SWAT team sniper — said he knew of such an incident was in Alaska in 1984, when spree killer Michael Silka was fatally shot by a state trooper from a helicopter.

In addition to being highly unusual, "It's a very techical shot," Warren said. "They have to be tremendously skilled in order to do that."

The involved deputy had to contend with motion, wind as well as the added difficulty of firing from an elevated position, or "high angle of incidence," which causes to impact their targets differently than on on flat ground.

In the aftermath of Friday's incident, northbound traffic was backed up from Little League Drive to the 210 Freeway, and a SigAlert was issued. Crews diverted northbound traffic off the freeway at Palm Avenue. The alert was still in effect at 8:15 p.m. Friday and was expected to last until 2 a.m..

Kendall Drive and Cajon Boulevard, which run parallel to the freeway, were backed up for miles.

"I'm just trying to get home after working a 72-hour week," Manny Valenzuela of Victorville said. "At least I got a Coke and some music to get me through this backup."

Others were pleased that the Sheriff's Department stopped the man before more people were hurt.

"I understand he was trying to get away from the cops but he could have really killed someone," said Theresa Rodriguez of Hesperia. "I'm glad the cops stopped him before that happened. Too many people complain about the cops, but when they're in trouble they sure as hell don't call ghostbusters. They call 911."

The incident came on what was already a busy travel day on the freeway as people were headed out of town for the weekend.

The chase and shooting led sheriff's officials to lock down the nearby Cesar E. Chavez Middle School.

As a precaution, the San Bernardino City Unified School District also moved to lock down the nearby North Verdemont Elementary School, 3555 W. Meyers Road, said Linda Bardere, district spokeswoman.

The schools were shut down at about 12:45 p.m. and reopened about an hour later, she said.

School district police swept the campuses while classes continued. The school day was not cut short at either campus.

Friday's was the second officer-involved shooting this year on nearly the same stretch of road.

In February, Jonathan Larry Harden, 23, of Banning stole a white, 2013 Scion XB that was left running in front of a nursing home and later tried to ram officers with the vehicle, prompting them to shoot him.

San Bernardino police fatally shot Harden on the 215, forcing the northbound lanes to be closed until about 11:45 p.m. as the investigation took place.

Copyright 2015 the San Bernardino County Sun