An alleged trespasser shot by police at a La Mesa home Thursday has been identified as the same man linked to the killing of his mother in Ocean Beach just one day prior.
Police said Daniel Chase McKibben, 36, was shot by an officer with the La Mesa Police Department at a home on Rainey Street.
McKibben was considered a person of interest in the killing of his mother whose body was found in a garage early Wednesday at a home on Niagara Avenue, near Bacon Street.
Police had not been able to immediately locate McKibben Wednesday in connection with the Ocean Beach case. Investigators said he had been spotted fleeing from the scene of the homicide.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, at around 8:40 a.m., a homeowner on Rainey Street -- a neighborhood east of the Lake Murray Reservoir and Cowles Mountain Boulevard -- called authorities to report an unwanted person inside his house. Two officers responded to that call, arriving at the house around 9:15 a.m.
La Mesa Police Department Lt. Greg Runge said the alleged trespasser was not a resident of the home, nor a relative of the homeowner. He refused to leave, the homeowner told investigators.
When officers got to the home, the suspect allegedly pulled out a knife.
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The suspect has now been identified by LMPD investigators as McKibben.
Runge said a confrontation ensued between McKibben and the two officers. That's when one LMPD officer fired his service weapon three times at the man. Two shots struck McKibben, one on his hand and one on his shoulder.
The lieutenant said the homeowner and officers were not hurt in the shooting. There were no outstanding suspects.
Soon after the officer-involved shooting, police swarmed the neighborhood. At least a half-dozen police vehicles lined the street hours after shooting and both plainclothes and uniformed officers could be seen investigating.
Officers cordoned a large part of the roadway, across about eight homes along Rainey Street. An extra layer of police tape was placed in front of the home where McKibben had been shot.
La Mesa resident Jesse Gonzales told NBC 7 he woke up to find police officers all over his street as he tried to leave for work. He said the street had been quiet all morning and he hadn't heard anything prior to seeing the police, including the three gunshots. He was stunned, as his neighborhood is typically quiet.
McKibben was taken to a local hospital. As of 11 a.m., Runge said he was in stable condition and was expected to survive.
The investigation is ongoing; the name of the officer who fired at the suspect was not immediately released by the LMPD.
NBC 7 spoke with the homeowner, Kenneth Caporale, 82, and his daughter, Amber Klassen, about the ordeal. At that point, they did not know McKibben's link to the OB killing.
Caporale believed McKibben was a homeless man from Ocean Beach brought to the home by Caporale’s 43-year-old son, who Caporale said is mentally ill.
Caporale said his son, who lives with him, will periodically go through episodes where he takes in homeless people against his father's wishes.
"He brings people over, homeless people I don’t know, and it’s a problem," he explained. "My other three kids say, 'You have to stop that,' but the only way to stop it is to kick my son out, and I’ve always kind of balked at that."
"My brother has been bipolar for 20 years and when he’s manic, he goes down to Ocean Beach and thinks he’s doing God’s work but he's brought probably tens of maybe upwards of 100 people to get cleaned up at my dad's house," Klassen added.
Caporale found this latest uninvited guest in his living room Thursday morning. He said he tried to get McKibben to leave his home, but he refused. Caporale said his son then left the house, leaving Caporale alone with the stranger.
"I had the confrontation with [McKibben], he's lying on the couch in the fetal position and saying, 'I'm not leaving, I'm comfortable here,'” Caporale told NBC 7.
Caporale said he called the LMPD’s non-emergency line to report the unwanted man in his home. He opted out of calling 911 because he didn’t want a bunch of police sirens to come blazing up his street, he told NBC 7.
After this incident, Caporale is worried about his safety.
"Now a number of people in OB know my house, how to get here, and how to get in," he said.
Ken and his family said they have no choice but to file a restraining order against his son.
"This takes the cake," said Klassen. "But, for my dad, it’s ultimately hard for him to tell him to leave because it’s his baby."
Runge said anyone with information on this case can reach out to the LMPD at (619) 667-1400.
As for the OB case from Wednesday, that incident began when McKibben’s brother called the San Diego Police Department to check on the welfare of their mother. The brother said a family member had gotten a message from the mother which raised concern. She was believed to be checking on a housing property in Ocean Beach.
As McKibben’s brother looked for his mother around the property on Niagara Avenue, he spotted his brother running away from the home. He forced his way into the garage and discovered his mother’s body inside. The circumstances surrounding the mother’s death were not immediately released by police.
At that time, SDPD investigators named McKibben a person of interest in his mother’s death. They launched a search for him, but didn’t find him.
