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A Canyon High graduate and former COC volleyball player was shot in the neck, but is in stable condition, after a high-speed pursuit and shootout Sunday, officials said.

Canyon High, COC Grad Recovering After Pursuit, Shootout

A Canyon High graduate and former COC volleyball player was shot in the neck, but is in stable condition, after a high-speed pursuit and shootout Sunday, officials said.


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Heather Seddon, a San Diego Police Department officer, was pursuing a suspect sought for a series of shootings when the incident occurred.

San Diego Police Department officials did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

Friends are reporting that she’s recovering in a San Diego hospital.

San Diego Police Department Chief Shelley Zimmerman issued the following statement on Twitter, after visiting Seddon:

“I just left the bedside of (Seddon). She is alert & doing well.We all thank you for your prayers as she continues to recover.”

COC women’s volleyball head coach Lisa Hooper coached Seddon when she was a middle blocker for COC from 2006-08, remembered Hopper’s contribution and sent her regards from L.A.

“Obviously, the whole program wishes her well,” Hooper said, adding Seddon reportedly “had stabilized  and been on the mend.”

Seddon helped the Cougars compete for a state title in 2007, and was part of a squad named the statewide  Pepsi Scholarship Athlete Team in 2008 for the squad’s academic and athletic prowess.

Here are the details of Sunday’s shooting, as reported by San Diego Union Tribune:

“Officer Heather Seddon, a five-year veteran with the department, was shot in the neck as 34-year-old Dennis Richard Fiel and officers traded shots about 8:15 a.m. in Serra Mesa, according to police. Fiel was killed.

‘She is very thankful for everybody’s support and the outpouring of positive thoughts and prayers,” police spokesman Scott Wahl said of Seddon. ‘She’s asking for a little bit of privacy while she continues to recover.’

The brief gunbattle near Sharp Memorial Hospital broke out after officers tried to pull over Fiel, who was speeding on a nearby freeway. He stopped on Mesa College Drive and ran, then pulled a gun and fired at officers who were chasing him, police said.

Officers Joshua Hodge and Mario Larrea returned fire. Acting homicide Capt. Mike Hastings said police are still trying to determine if Fiel was killed by police or died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

‘We won’t know specifically for quite some time,’ he said in an email Tuesday.

Police say Fiel is a possible suspect in a series of shootings at Kearny Mesa businesses and offices since January. He had a pending case in which he was charged with a single count of misdemeanor theft, according to court records. The alleged offense occurred last July.

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Canyon High, COC Grad Recovering After Pursuit, Shootout

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.