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Public Safety

Gunfire At UCSD Apartment Leads To SWAT Standoff

A San Diego police officer addresses residents of campus housing on UC San Diego. The residents were evacuated due to a SWAT standoff at one of the apartments, March 18, 2015.
10News
A San Diego police officer addresses residents of campus housing on UC San Diego. The residents were evacuated due to a SWAT standoff at one of the apartments, March 18, 2015.

An apparently accidental non-injury shooting at an apartment building at UC San Diego prompted a several-hour SWAT standoff early Wednesday and left three people in police custody.

The gunfire erupted during a fight at the residential complex in the 3900 block of Miramar Street about 1:30 a.m., according to San Diego police.

Arriving officers immediately confronted and arrested the suspected shooter, a 28-year-old graduate student who lives in the building, university spokesman Jeff Gattas said.

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Authorities evacuated everyone else from the building while trying to detain two people who remained in the unit where the firearm, believed to be a shotgun, had gone off. They initially refused to give up, prompting police to bring in a special weapons and tactics squad to prepare to forcibly enter if necessary.

About 4:15 a.m., SWAT officers set off a "flash bang" grenade in the apartment to try to drive the pair out, Gattas said. A short time later, a man exited and was taken into custody.

The other occupant, a woman, remained inside for about another hour before finally surrendering. Both were interviewed and released, the spokesman said.

The suspected shooter was expected to face charges of possession of a firearm on a campus and negligent discharge of a gun. His name was not immediately released.

The circumstances that led to the disturbance and gunfire were unclear, Gattas said.

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