4 California deputies injured after suspect leads chase before dying in crash

March 4 (UPI) -- One man is dead after four sheriff's deputies were injured early Monday in California in an incident that remains under investigation.

"This has been a chaotic incident and we're still trying to determine exactly what happened," Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram said on YouTube, adding that further information, as well as body-cam footage, will be released later.

Of the four injured deputies -- whose identities have not yet been revealed, along with the dead suspect -- two have injuries to their hands and one was shot in the leg, while one deputy received a head injury and currently is in "critical but stable condition."

The suspect died in a crash, authorities said.

Engram said just after midnight Pacific time, authorities received a report of a person "brandishing a rifle" in a part of western Santa Rosa. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has released some footage from the scene at early hours of the morning.

"Deputies arrived and saw the suspect, who quickly led them on a pursuit," according to the sheriff. Engram said during the pursuit, the suspect fired at the four deputies, who fired back.

The Press Democrat reported that the shooting suspect was driving a white sedan when he crashed in an area of Stony Point Road near Butler Avenue just west of Santa Rosa, where he was declared dead.

The suspect crashed his car and died on the scene, the sheriff reported, and the Santa Rosa Police Department is expected to take over the investigation.

A spokesperson for the sheriff's office said it is "unclear if the suspect fired from a moving car, but the majority of the gunfire from the suspect was when he was stopped."