On Thursday night in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, many people heard the gunfire in the streets as a suspect shot and killed a man who was working as a valet at the Pendry hotel, walked up a block, and opened fire on four others. After that, the suspect kept on walking until two men decided to chase the suspected shooter and stop him before he could pull the trigger again.
“And I hear gunshots, the distinct sound of gunshots, not fireworks, and so I turned. I started walking towards where I heard the gunshots from,” said Justin Larrabee.
When people began running away, Larrabee followed the gunshots. He saw the first victim on the ground outside the Pendry hotel and began hunting the gunman. As he walked north on Fifth Avenue, Larrabee heard more shots.
The shootings in the downtown area left one person dead, four people hurt, and one person arrested.
“So, I started like running faster, and I heard people as I was running, ‘Oh he’s on the sidewalk. He has a hood on,’ like describing the guy. He, the guy was just actually literally walking down the sidewalk, just like it was no big deal,” he said.
As other people took cover, Larrabee noticed another man following the shooter.
“When I got close enough to the guy that was following him, I asked him, ‘Is this the guy? And he nodded his head, yeah. So, I just sprinted and tackled him,” he said.
No words were spoken. Larrabee says he never saw the 9mm handgun, tucked in the man’s waistband.
San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said they were then joined by a third person, before officers arrived and struggled to take him into custody, eventually tasering him before being able to do so.
Larrabee and the other man were handcuffed and put in police cruisers until officers could figure out who was the suspected shooter.
“They were not messing around because there was a gun involved, you know what I mean?” he said.
Nisleit said his actions, and those of the other man, may have saved lives.
“It’s just instinct. I thought probably more people are gonna get shot you know? So, I figured I’d try to do what I could,” he said.
The suspect has been identified as Travis Sarreshteh,32, a San Diego resident. He has been charged with murder and four counts of attempted murder.