SAN DIEGO _ A man armed with a high-powered rifle unleashed a "hail of gunfire" into a restaurant in San Diego's Hillcrest area Tuesday night, but nobody was injured, police said.
Officers detained a suspect in the shooting about 20 minutes later and found the discarded gun somewhere in the four blocks between where the gunfire erupted and where the man was detained, San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown told San Diego News Video.
Police arrested 29-year-old Stefano Markell Parker in connection with the shooting. He is being held in county jail on nine counts of attempted murder, according to jail records.
Investigators at the scene of the shooting found at least 19 "assault rifle-caliber" shell casings, Brown said.
Several 911 callers reported the gunshots just before 7:40 p.m. near University and Fourth avenues, in a bustling area lined with restaurants and bars, San Diego police Officer John Buttle said.
The rounds shattered the windows at The Asian Bistro, Brown said, adding that it was "amazing that nobody was hurt."
"It's quite a blessing when that much, that hail of gunfire that went out, there was nobody hit," Brown said. "There were several patrons inside the business, and employees, and nobody was struck."
Some people inside the restaurant reported being hit by shattered glass, but any wounds were superficial and drew no blood, Brown said.
Witnesses told police the suspect fled south, and at least one witness said the gun used was an AR-15 rifle, according to police radio traffic.
The report of the shooting _ with fears that it could develop into a large-scale active-shooter situation _ prompted a huge law enforcement response, with patrol officers from around the city rushing to the scene as a police helicopter circled overhead.
Officers established a perimeter around the scene, with special focus south of the shooting site, where witnesses said the suspect ran. Before the potential suspect was detained, officers found clothing matching those worn by the suspect discarded in an alley.
An unarmed man matching the suspect's physical description was spotted about four blocks south of the shooting site and detained a few minutes before 8 p.m., in an alley between Fourth and Fifth avenues near Walnut Avenue, according to Buttle and Brown.
Some time after the man was detained, and on a potential path between the shooting site and where the man was handcuffed at gunpoint, officers discovered the suspected firearm and some magazines for the weapon, Brown said.
