What started out with California Highway Patrol officers trying to pull over a suspected drunken driver early Friday morning ended with a Placer County sheriff’s deputy fatally shooting that person.

Highway 89 between Squaw Valley and Fairway Drive in Tahoe City is expected to be closed for the better part of Feb. 3 while officers investigate. Squaw Valley is accessible via Truckee.

Names of the victim and the officer involved have not been released.

The incident started about 1:40am today when CHP officers said they saw someone driving erratically on Highway 28. The pursuit was stopped because it was creating a dangerous situation for others.

The vehicle was then spotted near Dollar Hill about an hour later. The suspect would not pull over. This is when spike strips were employed on Highway 89 between Squaw and Alpine Meadows.

“The driver exited the car, holding his female passenger hostage, at gunpoint, and walked away. He pointed his gun at deputies and at passing vehicles,” according to PCSO.

Law enforcement followed him, trying to negotiate as he walked up a residential driveway.

“Fearing for the safety and lives of the hostage and the people inside the home where he was headed, deputies shot the suspect,” Placer deputies said.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was hurt.

The relationship of the suspect and woman has not been released.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report