Vaca and other deputies from the Morongo Basin Station were conducting extra patrols for off-highway vehicle violations in Yucca Valley, according to McMahon.
When the deputies located the motorcycle they could not find the suspect, McMahon said.
“As they approached the motorcycle they attempted to locate the rider and the rider started firing at the responding deputies,” the sheriff said, and one of his deputies was struck.
McMahon said that the suspect, who has not been named by authorities, was pursued by additional deputies and started shooting at them, prompting an exchange of gunfire that left the suspect dead.
A handgun was recovered from the scene, he said.
Morongo Basin sits just north of Joshua Tree National Park, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles in California’s high desert.