A suicidal man holed up in a home near Granite Hills High School Friday, prompting an hours-long standoff during which he fatally shot himself.
The man, described as distraught and believed to possibly be armed with a gun, holed up inside the residence, despite a fire that engulfed a detached garage on the property, authorities said.
The blaze in the 700 block of North Fourth Street in unincorporated El Cajon was reported via 911 shortly at about 9 a.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
The caller said a man had locked himself in the house and was threatening to shoot himself following an argument with relatives. The family members were able to get out of the residence safely, Sheriff’s officials said.
Patrol personnel called in firefighters, evacuated nearby residents and shut down the street between Madison and Naranca avenues.
Deputies and crisis counselors proceeded to spend about two hours trying in vain to persuade the man to disarm himself and exit the house, sheriff’s Lt. Scott Roller said. They then called in special weapons and tactics teams, he added.
SWAT entered the home shortly before 12:30 p.m. and found the man dead from a self-inflected gunshot wound. Authorities have not released his identity.
– City News Service
Updated 6:45 p.m. Aug. 19, 2022