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The police officers from Northern California were taking a coffee break Sunday at a Starbucks in Vallejo, a town in the Bay Area, when they saw a man emerge in the doorway, with an "assault-style" weapon in his hands.
He was also wearing body armor.
When the man tried to shoot, authorities said, the gun, which had a "high capacity drum magazine" and was covered with duct tape, appeared to jam - a gift of time that may have saved the officers' lives.
They used the delay to seize their own weapons, chasing the man out into the parking lot and down a city street. The man continued to fiddle with his malfunctioning weapon while he ran, police said.
Officers "engaged the suspect," later identified as 41-year-old Adam Powell, near an intersection and shot him three times. Powell was transported to a hospital and on Monday was in critical but stable condition, reported the Associated Press.
He has not yet been charged, though police told the AP Powell will be arraigned later this week.
Vallejo Police Chief Andrew Bidou told CBS News that Powell had "attempted to assassinate" his officers, who according to a statement from the department, were justified in their actions. Police found an additional handgun on Powell and 70 rounds of ammunition loaded in the jammed weapon, reported television station KGO-TV.
"The attempted assassination of two Vallejo police officers while on a coffee break underscores the extreme danger that police officers face on a daily basis," Lt. Jeff Bassett said in the statement. "More importantly it demonstrates the bravery and courage of our officers who place themselves in harm's way to protect our communities. There is little doubt that if it were not for the decisive action of our two officers that today's story would be much different."
The alleged assassination attempt comes at a time of heightened tensions between civilians and police - after a turbulent summer and early autumn that spurred widespread and, at times, violent Black Lives Matter protests and the shooting deaths of officers in Dallas, Baton Rouge and, just last week, in Palm Springs, Calif.
The Vallejo Police Department told the AP that it did not know if Powell had expressed anger toward police or what his motivations might have been.
But the man's stepdaughter, Breauna Bower, offered television station KGO-TV an alternative motive that adds another bizarre element to the case.
Perhaps Powell, in threatening the police, was in fact trying to get them to shoot him, she said. Maybe he was trying to commit suicide-by-cop.
Earlier that day, police later found out, Powell's 2-year-old son was at their home in Suisun City when the toddler was shot, KGO-TV reported. Authorities are still investigating, but initial reports indicate that the gunshot wound was accidental and self-inflicted. The toddler is in critical condition, reported the TV station.
"He's a really good man. I don't know what would've went through this mind, but he's a really good man," Bower told KGO-TV. "I assume he possibly thought his son was dead and was just distracted. And just wanted to commit suicide in a certain way. Who knows, who knows."
Vallejo police told the TV station the shooting was premeditated, citing reports that Powell drove by the Starbucks six minutes before he engaged the officers. Powell has a felony record of robbery and drug offenses, reported the AP.
Tuesday, a memorial service will honor the two Palm Springs officers killed just over a week ago in Southern California.
"Officers I think around the country are at a heightened state of alert now," Vallejo Police Chief Bidou told the AP.