A man was found dead inside a bloody laundry room at an apartment complex in Vista early Saturday, authorities confirmed.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) said deputies were called to an apartment complex located at 1515 South Melrose Dr., just after 4:30 a.m. after someone reported a person hurt in a communal laundry room of the apartment building.
In the laundry room, deputies discovered a 32-year-old man dead on the floor. Authorities said the victim had suffered some type of trauma to his body.
"Right now, we can't tell exactly what type of injuries those are, based on the position of the body," SDSO Homicide Detail Lt. Kenn Nelson explained. "There is quite a large amount of blood there."
Nelson said that, based on the man's injuries, his death is being investigated as a homicide. The lieutenant said the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office would collect the body and conduct an autopsy to determine the victim's cause and manner of death.
Nelson said detectives were trying to determine whether the man was a resident of the apartment complex.
Vista resident Lundy Dawn lives at the complex and told NBC 7 she woke up to "chaos" Saturday morning including deputies' sirens blaring and dogs barking. Dawn said she also heard a lot of yelling at the complex, which sounded like it was coming from the laundry room.
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"It was hard to understand and comprehend," she recounted. "I heard the sirens and then finally realized what was going on. Obviously, there was something major going on."
Dawn, like other residents, were shaken by the incident at their apartment complex and waiting to hear more details from detectives.
Some neighbors were stuck inside of their homes for hours as investigators searched for evidence just steps from their front door.
No other information was immediately available, including the victim's name.
As of 2:45 p.m., no arrests had been made.
