Seal Beach, California — On Monday, January 16, 2023, at approximately 9:36 p.m., officers from the Seal Beach Police Department responded to a call for service in the 100 block of Old Ranch Road regarding a suspicious person in front of a residence. When officers arrived, they located 47-year-old Michael Bernard Emch Jr. within the fenced-off patio area of one of the homes. The person who called the police to the home identified Emch as her ex-partner, who she had a restraining order against. Police later confirmed Emch was in violation of a restraining order. Emch told officers at the time that he was asked to go over to the home to pick up money that was owed to him, but the officer explains to him that the person he was there to see told police she wasn’t expecting anybody. As Emch exits the patio, the officer points his gun at him and tells him to put his hands up, but Emch refuses and says he’ll just leave and “go the other way.”
When the officer tells him he’s not allowed to leave, Emch asks for a staff sergeant, but the officer ignores him and tells him to sit down. Instead of sitting down, Emch turns his back to the officer, holding his left hand up and his right hand in his pocket. Emch then starts walking back into the patio, but an officer Tased Emch before he could fully cross the patio door threshold. “What’s that?” the other officer asked Emch. Emch reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, which police later said was loaded. That’s when the officers fired more than a dozen times at Emch. “Finish me off,” is what Emch tells the officers, instead an officer tells him to “shut up.”
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After the shooting, police officers transitioned to providing lifesaving efforts to the suspect. Emch was transported to a local hospital where he was declared deceased. A firearm was recovered from the scene. There were no physical injuries to Seal Beach Police officers as a result of the incident
