Video shows skateboard attack that led to police shooting in Carlsbad

A video released Thursday by Carlsbad police shows an officer being hit by a skateboard in a surprise attack two months ago, prompting him to shoot his attacker.

The incident occurred on March 29 at around 11:15 p.m.

Officer Michael McKinney was driving a patrol car on Carlsbad Village Drive toward Interstate 5 when a rock struck the vehicle, destroying the headlight and damaging the windshield, police said.

McKinney called a supervisor and drove to a nearby mall. While the officer and his sergeant were assessing the damage, a man ran after McKinney and struck him with the skateboard, police said.

Video of the incident showed the attacker, his face and hands obscured, slamming the bottom of the board onto McKinney’s head. It is clear from the footage that the officer thought he had been shot. As he took cover, the officer fired three shots at his attacker, who ran across the parking lot.

Nobody was hit.

As the sergeant pursued the attacker, a large rock fell from the man’s pocket, a video of the incident shows. Police said the rock was similar to one investigators found under the highway where McKinney’s patrol car was struck and damaged.

Additional officers responded and the suspect, identified as 32-year-old Kyle McCord, was arrested about three blocks away.

Meanwhile, other officers took McKinney to a nearby fire station for treatment. “I got shot,” he can be heard saying to an approaching firefighter. The officer was eventually hospitalized with a skull fracture, brain hemorrhage and a concussion.

McCord was booked into prison on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer and committing a crime while out on bail.