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Jonathan Carroll

Age : 38

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 09/17/2021

Location : Bear Valley Parkway and Encino Drive

City : Escondido

County : San Diego

State : California

Agency : Escondido Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Chandler Hoppal

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after pursuit

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/17/2021, Escondido Police Department Officer Chandler Hoppal shot and killed 38-year-old Jonathan Carroll after a police pursuit ended with Carroll crashing his Mercedes SUV near Bear Valley Parkway and Encino Drive. Police were not attempting a routine traffic stop: officers were seeking Carroll in connection with a car-to-car shooting that had occurred approximately 90 minutes earlier.
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The original incident began near North Ash Street and East Pennsylvania Avenue, where a 20-year-old driver reported being shot in the back while driving. The wounded man survived and provided police with a description and license plate number for a white Mercedes-Benz GL450. Police said there was no known relationship between Carroll and the wounded driver.
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Police traced the Mercedes to Carroll and established surveillance near his home. Hoppal was part of an arrest team assembled nearby that included SWAT officers, a canine handler and an officer equipped with less-lethal force. Hoppal subsequently saw Carroll driving near Citrus and Washington avenues and attempted to stop him because police believed he was responsible for the earlier shooting.
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Carroll continued driving away while Hoppal pursued. Police said speeds exceeded 100 mph during the approximately ten-minute pursuit. The pursuit ended when Carroll lost control of the Mercedes, struck a curb and crashed near Bear Valley Parkway and Encino Drive.
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Police alleged that Carroll emerged from the crashed SUV holding a 9mm handgun. Hoppal told investigators that he saw the gun and believed Carroll was turning toward him with it. Hoppal fired 12 rounds from his department-issued handgun, striking Carroll three times in the head, abdomen and arm.
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Police said Carroll also fired two rounds during the confrontation. Investigators determined that one bullet struck his own SUV while the destination of the second was not established. Police described Carroll's handgun as an unserialized privately manufactured firearm commonly called a ghost gun. Two additional unserialized firearms, ammunition and a loaded rifle magazine were reportedly recovered from his SUV.
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Carroll was transported to Palomar Medical Center, where he died. The shooting and preceding pursuit were captured in substantial part by Hoppal's body-worn camera and other video. Escondido police subsequently released an edited approximately 11-minute critical-incident video incorporating body-camera and cellphone recordings.
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The San Diego County District Attorney's Office conducted a formal review of the shooting. Its 03/29/2022 report identified Hoppal by name and reconstructed the encounter using police reports, witness statements, physical evidence and recordings. The DA concluded that Hoppal reasonably believed Carroll presented an imminent deadly threat and declined criminal prosecution.
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The available public record does not establish that Carroll's family or an independent eyewitness materially contested the central police account of the final confrontation. No wrongful-death lawsuit by Carroll's family arising from his killing was identified in the later records reviewed for this update.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Chandler Hoppal was the Escondido officer who pursued Carroll and fired all 12 police rounds during the fatal confrontation. He had joined the department relatively recently and was approximately two years into his police career when he killed Carroll.
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Hoppal subsequently became a named defendant in federal civil-rights litigation unrelated to Carroll's death. In 2024, Dwight Ernest Samuels filed a federal civil-rights action naming Hoppal, Officer Mario Feria, another officer and the City of Escondido as defendants.
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Hoppal was again named as a defendant in a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed by Eleazar Solano in December 2025 against the City of Escondido and five individual officers. The action was brought under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and remained in active federal litigation in 2026. These are civil allegations rather than findings that Hoppal committed misconduct, but they are substantive later officer-history records and are relevant to the background review.
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The Escondido Police Department had already experienced another fatal police shooting only five months before Carroll's death. On 04/21/2021, Escondido Officer Chad Moore shot and killed 59-year-old Steven John Olson after police responded to reports that Olson was striking vehicles with a crowbar. Body-camera footage showed Moore repeatedly backing away and warning Olson before firing seven rounds when Olson was approximately seven feet away.
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That earlier killing generated public protest and demands for rapid release of police video. Escondido police ultimately released body-camera and surveillance footage approximately eight days after Olson was killed.
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The department experienced another fatal police shooting only three months after Carroll's death. On 12/26/2021, Escondido officers shot and killed 39-year-old Roberto Cazares after another police pursuit. Thus, Carroll was one of at least three people killed by Escondido police during 2021, with the Olson killing approximately five months before his death and the Cazares killing approximately three months afterward.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/armed-suspect-who-was-fatally-shot-by-escondido-officer-identified
https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2021/09/24/armed-suspect-who-was-fatally-shot-by-escondido-police-officer-identified
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/suspect-killed-by-escondido-officer-fired-back-with-ghost-gun-had-more-untraceable-guns-in-suv/2727007/
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/escondido-pd-releases-footage-from-deadly-shootout-that-killed-pursuit-suspect/2739739/
https://www.times-advocate.com/articles/epd-updates-information-on-fatal-gunfight/
https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/police-release-bodycam-video-of-fatal-shooting-in-escondido
https://www.sdcda.org/content/MediaRelease/202212/21-112PS%20%28Jonathan%20Carroll%29.pdf
https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2022/12/16/da-clears-officers-in-10-police-shootings-half-dating-back-more-than-2-years/
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/04/27/transient-who-was-fatally-shot-by-police-in
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/04/29/protesters-demand-bodycam-footage-escondido-office
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/casdce/3%3A2024cv01392/790568
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/casdce/3%3A2025cv03433/836939