San Diego police fatally shot a burglary suspect Tuesday night after he came out of a Point Loma-area home allegedly holding a handgun following an hours-long SWAT standoff, authorities said.
Officers were sent to the home on Nipoma Street in the Loma Portal neighborhood around 3:40 p.m. on a check-the-welfare call, which was later changed to a residential burglary in progress, according to sheriff’s Lt. Juan Marquez.
After arriving at the home, police contacted the homeowner, who told them there were firearms inside the home and that no one had permission to be inside, Marquez said. Because of the potential danger, SWAT officers were sent to the home and tried to resolve the situation using “tactical methods,” including using flashbang explosive devices and calling into the home, he said.
At some point, police heard a couple of gunshots fired from inside the home as officers were attempting to make contact with the suspect, Marquez said.
Around 9:20 p.m., a man holding a firearm exited through the front door and was shot, Marquez said. The lieutenant did not say how many officers fired at the man or how many times he was struck.
The area near the front door is riddled with bullet holes. (Luke Johnson / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Paramedics responded, but the man died before he could be taken to a hospital. His name was not immediately released. Marquez said investigators do not think the man knew the homeowner.
Marquez said no officers were injured in the incident.
Throughout the event and into the following day, neighbors on a group text were discussing the shooting, according to Natalie Wilson, who lives a few doors down from where the incident occurred. And although the police tape came down late Wednesday morning, evidence of the gunfire still existed.
The wall next to the front door of the home was riddled with bullets; dried blood could be seen on the patio and windows on the south side of the home were punched out. Wilson said she was at her house when the shooting occurred and said she heard police vehicles, drones and then gunfire before it all went quiet.
A man, who identified himself as the homeowner, was seen Wednesday cleaning up broken glass at the home. He declined to be interviewed by a reporter.
“It’s scary to think that all that was going on … but I don’t think it’s an unsafe street,” Wilson said. “It’s a really good neighborhood.”
The sheriff’s homicide team has taken over the investigation of the shooting under terms of a countywide memorandum of understanding that ensures no department investigates its own officer-involved shootings.