An armed man at the center of an 8-hour-long standoff in an El Cajon home was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound but his young son emerged safe from the ordeal, police confirmed.
On Friday at around 5:15 p.m. officers with the El Cajon Police Department (ECPD) were called to the 800 block of Grape Street after a resident reported their family member had fired off multiple shots inside their home.
When officers arrived, they discovered a man was barricaded inside a home, and family members told police the man was armed with multiple weapons. Two family members had been able to escape from the home, but the suspect’s 7-year-old son remained inside the house.
SWAT officials with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department moved in on the home and a lengthy, overnight standoff ensued.
For several hours, officers tried to contact the suspect inside the home and negotiate for the safe release of the child hostage, with little success.
The ECPD said officers had their first contact with the suspect at around 10:30 p.m. via Instagram, but said that what the suspect was saying was incoherent.
Residents living in immediate proximity to the house were evacuated and police set up a perimeter in a two-block radius around the home. Remaining residents in the area were asked to shelter in place. Broadway between N. 2nd Street and N. 3rd Street and Grape Street from Broadway to Naranca Avenue were closed off to traffic during the tense situation.
"I was afraid of bullets going through the houses," one neighbor who was evacuated told NBC 7. "I was very concerned about the safety of everybody."
"It was strange to come home and pull into the driveway and see a bunch of police. I thought it was across the street and then I realized it was right outside the back porch. It was a little jarring," resident Tiffany Worthington told NBC 7.
"So they asked us to stay in our house and be safe. Not walk around. And that’s what I did. When things seemed to be heating up, they knocked on our doors and asked us if we could leave," she added.
“El Cajon police called and told us all to stay in the house, because we have a dangerous person walking around over there with a hostage and stuff,” explained neighbor Joseph Haynes. “He [the suspect] had the families all scared. And I don’t think that was right at all.”
Finally, at 1:15 a.m., the suspect’s son emerged from the garage of the home, unharmed. The boy walked over to police officers who were waiting for him outside the home.
Shortly after the boy came out safely, the ECPD said officers heard a single gunshot coming from the house. Officials once again tried to contact the suspect, to no avail.
Local
A robot was sent into the home. Officers soon discovered the suspect was dead inside the house from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, ECPD Lt. Royal Bates said.
The suspect’s name was not immediately released. Family members told police the suspect was in his mid-20s. Neighbors said the suspect shared the home in El Cajon with his father.
Worthington said she has seen the suspect in the neighborhood a few times, and said the family “seemed like a regular family.” She said she was relieved to hear the standoff had ended with the boy unharmed.
“We’re just going to pick up and wish [the best] for the family,” she said. “And [for] the little boy to try and move on.”
The ECPD did not immediately release further details about what led up to the shots and standoff. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information on the case can call the ECPD at (619) 579-3311.
