REDLANDS, CALIFORNIA – A business owner responding to an early morning alarm at his office shot a transient man who confronted him inside. According to a Redlands Police Department press release, the incident occurred just after 5 a.m. Monday at 101 East Redlands Boulevard. RPD had responded to an earlier alarm call at the address, and upon conducting an exterior property check found no indications of a forced entry.
A recurring alarm caused the owner to respond to check the property. Upon unlocking the door to the business and entering, he was rushed by a man who was inside. The owner fired his handgun at the man, who police said was hit at least once in the chest. The suspect, identified as 37-year-old Clemente Wilson Valenzuela, was given life-saving aid by responding police officers until paramedics arrived and assumed patient care. He was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center, less than five minutes away, and was listed in critical condition.
Investigators determined that Valenzuela had apparently gone into an adjacent business in the complex then “tunneled” through the party wall that separated the tenant spaces in order to enter the property management office, where the alarm was activated.
Police added that multiple burglaries had been reported in the business complex during the week preceding the shooting, and that they have not filed any charges against the business owner.
