Manhunt and Deadly Officer Involved Shooting in Madera County

A manhunt is underway after a suspected car thief escaped arrest leading to a deadly officer involved shooting in Madera County.

"It’s been crazy with all the helicopters and all the police and now the swat team is here and they are combing through looking for some bandito I don’t know. They’re going to catch him," said Mark Daddato who lives just north of Millerton Lake.

Residents north of Millerton Lake could only watch as multiple law enforcement agencies canvassed the area trying to find a suspected car thief that led officers to the scene of what would later become an officer involved shooting.

"On the north side of Millerton lake we have a number of deputies people from fish and wildlife and a helicopter in the area trying to locate his whereabouts," said Madera County Sheriff Jay Varney.

Law enforcement leaders say in the early hours Thursday they followed the suspect in a stolen vehicle to a home near the Fine Gold community in Madera County. After losing sight of the suspect, investigators encountered an area resident.

"A male subject came to the window with a rifle was shouting back at law enforcement and at one point he pointed the rifle outside the window at law enforcement and a deputy sheriff fired his rifle striking the suspect. He’s deceased at the scene," said Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims.

As investigators try to sort out why this deadly shooting happened, they did manage to bring a woman into custody who was in the car with the suspected car thief.

Madera County residents remain on edge as the hunt continues for the man in his 20’s who officers say started this chain of events.

"We’re definitely going to keep an eye out because we have to go to bed at night if it gets dark and they still haven’t found him yet that’s when it can get dangerous," said Daddato.

The suspect is described as a 6 feet tall in his 20s with blonde hair and several tattoos. Investigators want to hear if you’ve seen him they say he may have a cut on his forehead.

As for the officer involved shooting, investigators want to know if the Madera County resident who was killed knew the suspect.