San Diego sheriff confident 2 wounded deputies will fully recover

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San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said Wednesday night that he is confident that both of his deputies wounded hours earlier by gunfire will make full recoveries.

One deputy was wounded in the leg and is undergoing surgery, Gore told reporters outside the hospital where the deputy is being treated. The other deputy suffered a grazing wound to the head, he said.

‘It’s been a dark few weeks for all law enforcement in Southern California,’ Gore said, referring to the case of fired Los Angeles police Officer Christopher Dorner, who is suspected of killing four people, including an officer from the Riverside Police Department and a deputy from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Dorner died last week after being cornered by officers in a cabin in the Big Bear area.

As Gore spoke, the SWAT team of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, aided by Carlsbad officers, was in a standoff with a suspect in the shootings, which occurred in the Leucadia neighborhood of Encinitas.

The standoff is underway in the 700 block of Del Rio Avenue, near Interstate 5. The deputies were injured by gunfire about 3:30 p.m. during a stolen car investigation. The second deputy may have been struck by a ricocheting bullet fired from inside a home.

Homes south of Del Rio Avenue have been evacuated. The man inside the home is threatening to shoot deputies who try to enter, officials said.

In September, two San Diego deputies were wounded in a gun battle with a child-abuse suspect in Lakeside. The two underwent extensive surgery but survived.

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-- Tony Perry in San Diego