An apparently suicidal 62-year-old man raised a rifle toward officers from inside a third-floor room Wednesday during a standoff at a Core-Columbia retail/residential building, prompting one of them to fatally shoot him, authorities reported.
@jiovanni_S Something's going on in our hood! SWAT with guns drawn... #SanDiego #Broadway pic.twitter.com/X2stla2Z6c
— Reese Bee (@reeses_puffs) February 26, 2014The events that led to the deadly gunfire began shortly after 10:30 a.m., when San Diego police got a report that a man was inside his upstairs rental unit in the 900 block of Broadway, armed with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
"Initial responding officers as well as emergency negotiators tried to communicate with the suspect, to no avail, " Lt. Mike Hastings said.
Officers took up positions around the structure -- which also houses a bar and a hamburger restaurant on the ground floor -- and closed the east-west street in front of it along with traffic lanes on nearby streets.
The stalemate went on for about an hour, during which the armed man "acted despondent and agitated," Hastings said.
Finally, the suspect allegedly raised the rifle toward police in front of a window, prompting a 22-year department veteran to fire about a dozen rounds at him.
A SWAT team then entered the apartment, finding the resident dead. His name was withheld pending family notification.
Police told reporters the suspect was believed to have been an Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War.
