Report: Police Shoot, Kill Marine in Palm Springs

The man shot and killed by police in a Palm Springs parking garage was a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, it was reported Monday.

Though the Riverside County coroner's office had still not released the name of the man as of noon Monday, the Desert Sun is reporting that 22-year-old Cpl. Allan DeVillena II was the man killed in a parking structure in downtown Palm Springs early Saturday morning.

Second Lt. Savannah Moyer, the public affairs officer with the 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, told The Desert Sun on Sunday that a Marine was involved, confirming that "a Marine was fatally wounded in an incident yesterday morning."

She said the Marine was with the 1st Marine Logistics Group. That report could not be confirmed by City News Service Monday.

The Palm Springs Police Department continued to investigate the shooting, which broke out when two officers on bicycles were conducting a routine patrol near several bars as they closed at 2 a.m. Saturday.

The department says its officers saw a fight break out in the parking structure at 275 S. Indian Canyon Drive. As they talked with the driver of a black Chrysler 300, some sort of scuffle broke out between its driver and the officers, according to Palm Spring police Sgt. Mike Kovaleff.

The following information was released in a press release:

"The preliminary investigation indicates that the officers began to investigate a disturbance involving subjects in two separate vehicles within the parking structure," Kovaleff said.  "The officers dismounted from their bicycles and contacted a male suspect driving one of the vehicles. An altercation ensued between the officers and the male suspect driving the vehicle in the parking structure. An officer-involved shooting involving both officers occurred and the males suspect driving the vehicle was shot."

It was not clear of the Marine was in the car or outside it, but Kovaleff said both officers fired their weapons. Both police officers have 4- 1/2 years with the department, and were put on administrative, pending the outcome of the shooting investigation, Kovaleff said.

A man who had been with the Marine was initially taken into custody for suspicion of being drunk, but he was released after police questioned him, Kovaleff said.