Paradise >> A police officer’s shooting of a driving-under-the- influence suspect Thursday morning in Paradise was accidental, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey confirmed Friday afternoon.

The officer, Patrick Feaster, is a five-year veteran of the Paradise Police Department. Ramsey said Feaster told investigators he does not know why the gun, a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, discharged.

In a press release, Ramsey said the investigation was verified by an analysis of the officer’s dashboard camera in his patrol vehicle. The video, Ramsey said, shows the officer was not prepared for and was surprised by the gun’s discharge.

According to the release, Feaster had been at Foster and the Skyway Wednesday just before midnight when a Toyota 4Runner sped out of the parking lot of the Canteena bar without its headlights on, ran a red light at Skyway and Pearson Road, and headed eastward.

Feaster followed and saw the 4Runner hit the median at Black Olive Drive and roll. In the release, Ramsey said Feaster saw Darien Rayne Ehorn, 23, ejected from the car and land in the roadway. Ehorn died at the scene.

As he approached her, Andrew Nicholas Thomas, 26, began to exit the car, which was on its side.

In the release, Ramsey said Thomas was moving quickly and Feaster thought he was trying to escape.

“(Thomas) was coming up through the driver-side window,” Ramsey said on Thursday. “The officer un-holstered his weapon and fired one shot, and the man went back down.”

The bullet struck Thomas in the lower right neck. He is in critical condition at Enloe Medical Center in Chico.

Ramsey said they still have yet to determine who was driving that evening. They are looking for anyone who may have seen who was driving the vehicle as it left the Canteena on the Skyway that night.

Ramsey said Feaster has been cooperative during the investigation but was “clearly shaken” by the shooting. He was placed on administrative leave.