On Monday, 02/11/19, at 1507 hours, the Redding Police Department received a call of a subject with a baby stroller and a handgun in the area of Churn Creek Road and Denton Way, Redding. Several police officers responded to the location and upon officer’s arrival the subject, later identified as Phayvanh Inthavong, 32 years old of Redding, fled on foot eastbound in the area of Arizona Street. As Inthavong fled through a green belt north of Arizona Street, he passed by two young juveniles (4 and 5 years old) who were playing in the area. Inthavong grabbed one of the children by the shoulder and when confronted by the child’s father, Inthavong let the child go. The child was not physically harmed from the encounter and was not known to Inthavong. Inthavong ultimately entered a nearby occupied residence on Arizona Street as officers continued to chase him. The residence he entered was not his and the subjects inside did not know Inthavong.
Once inside the residence, Inthavong got into a physical altercation with at least four occupants as officers arrived on scene and surrounded the residence in the 1200 block of Arizona Street. Inthavong at one point, grabbed a juvenile (12 years old) and it appeared to the other occupants that Inthavong was using the juvenile as a human shield. All occupants ultimately were able to escape the residence without serious injury. Officers could see Inthavong through window that he was armed with a small caliber handgun as he paced back and forth inside. After repeated announcements from a public address system on a patrol vehicle, Inthavong exited the residence through a window. Inthavong started to flee over a fence and pointed the handgun he was carrying at an officer who was nearby. Multiple officers fired rounds from their duty weapons subsequently striking Inthavong. Inthavong was pronounced dead at the scene. The handgun possessed by Inthavong was recovered on scene. The make, model and caliber of the handgun is under further examination by crime scene personnel.
The Shasta County Multiagency Officer Involved Critical Incident Protocol was activated and allied agencies responded to assist. The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, Major Crimes Unit took over the investigation. During the investigation, investigators and detectives contacted numerous citizens that observed Inthavong’s actions during the incident. Detectives and investigators confirmed there was no child in the stroller or with Inthavong regarding the initial reported call. One of the residents received a minor bleeding injury to their foot. None of the occupants at the residence were seriously hurt although they were terrified about the incident.
Inthavong was a transient in the Redding area. Inthavong had prior convictions for resisting arrest (2010), assault with a deadly weapon (2011), possession of drug paraphernalia (2014) and sexual battery (2019). Inthavong pled no contest to the sexual battery charge and was time served on February 6th, 2019 after serving his 30 days sentence with credits. An autopsy has been scheduled early next week for Inthavong.
Anyone with information about this investigation or who was a witness to it are urged to contact the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, Major Crimes Unit, 530-245-6135 or mcu@co.shasta.ca.us.
