Man wounded by Huntington Beach police gunfire arrested on suspicion of assaulting officer

A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer in connection with an officer-involved shooting in Huntington Beach this month that left the suspect and two officers wounded.

Garrett Meyer, a Huntington Beach resident who works in construction, was arrested Friday and booked into Orange County Jail with bail set at $50,000, according to jail records.

Meyer had spent more than a week in a hospital recovering after being hit by police gunfire Sept. 7 in the 2000 block of Delaware Street. Police said he underwent surgery for his injuries, which they described as non-life-threatening.

The shooting unfolded just after 7 a.m. when Huntington Beach officers were called to Delaware Street near Utica Avenue. The caller said a man was running around the neighborhood slashing tires, Police Chief Robert Handy said.

At least four officers began searching for a suspect. They found Meyer in a narrow walkway between two fenced patios attached to multifamily complexes, police said.

Authorities allege the man confronted the officers with a knife and a shooting occurred.

Two police officers suffered gunshot wounds resulting from “friendly fire� among officers, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating the case, as is typical with officer-involved shootings in Huntington Beach.

One officer was struck in the lower extremities and the other higher in the body. Both have been released from a hospital and are expected to make full recoveries, police said.

Handy said both officers have served more than two years on the Huntington Beach police force.

This is the sixth officer-involved shooting in Huntington Beach this year; the first since March.

The total is more than in any entire year this decade, according to Police Department archives.

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