CHULA VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Police say the wife of a gunman and two children have emerged safely from a San Diego-area apartment after a standoff began when the man killed a neighbor.
The three walked out of the apartment in Chula Vista shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday and got into a police car that drove away. Police have not given the relationship between the adults and the two boys. One of them is 8 years old. The other is younger but his exact age is unclear.
The gunman remains inside. Police have identified him only by his first name, Michael. Police Capt. Lon Turner says the man is negotiating with officers again via cellphone after previously refusing to answer, and he has been talking about surrendering.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below. Police in suburban San Diego were in a standoff with a gunman Thursday after he killed a neighbor and retreated to his apartment, where his wife and two children were inside, authorities said.
Police began evacuating the 39-unit apartment complex in Chula Vista about four hours after the morning shooting, which Capt. Lon Turner said arose from a dispute among neighbors. “We don’t want there to be any further bloodshed,” Turner said.
Callers initially reported seeing a man with an AK-47 retreat into the apartment, but shell casings at the scene indicated another type of gun, Turner said. Callers reported hearing four to 10 shots. The victim’s family members were among the people evacuated from the sprawling complex of low-slung, lime-green apartments.
Humberto Carranza’s wife, 8-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were among the evacuees. Carranza, who was at work as a door installer when he heard about the standoff, spoke with his wife on the phone throughout the ordeal as SWAT officers stood in their backyard with sniper rifles. His family was in his son’s bedroom, which was farthest away from the gunman’s apartment.
Carranza, 33, said he knows the man involved in the standoff, and their sons are classmates who play together. “I don’t know what went wrong,” he said. “He seemed to be all right. I just saw him yesterday and he said hi.”
Turner pleaded with the alleged gunman and his wife to answer their phones. Police had spoken with the gunman in the early morning but then he cut off communication, prompting the evacuation. “Michael or Laura, please pick up the phone so we can talk to you,” the police captain said in front of television cameras. He declined to release their last names.
Chula Vista is a city of about 250,000 people sandwiched between downtown San Diego and the Mexican border.