Authorities Wednesday released video footage of an Encanto-area police standoff that ended when a SWAT sniper fatally shot a man suspected of gunning down his mother before exchanging gunfire with officers.
The images, recorded by cameras worn on San Diego Police Department officers’ uniforms and mounted on an SDPD patrol helicopter, depict the fraught events that led to the death of 43-year-old Jesse Glen Nelson on Aug. 28.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. that day, a patrol officer responding to reports of a shooting at a home in the 500 block of Iona Drive arrived to find 74-year-old Maria Rosario Morales and a dog lying on a driveway in front of the house with gunshot wounds, according to police.
As the officer approached the residence near Market and 60th streets, Nelson allegedly shot at him from inside, prompting the officer to retreat behind his parked cruiser and return fire.
After more officers arrived, police approached the downed woman from behind a squad car, pulled her off the driveway and brought her to a safe spot down the street. During the process, the officers once again came under fire from inside the house, police said.
Despite lifesaving efforts on the part of police and paramedics, Morales died at the scene. The dog also did not survive its wounds.
As the standoff got underway, police called in special weapons and tactics personnel to take up positions around the house.
At about 9 p.m., an infrared camera on the helicopter circling overhead captured images of Nelson running out of the home and into a garage on the property. For about an hour, the suspect remained holed up there, ignoring officers’ orders to surrender and occasionally throwing things out a window toward them.
Nelson then set fire to the garage and fled into the yard, according to police. Within minutes, the blaze engulfed the structure, killing a dog trapped inside it.
Shortly after 10 p.m., the helicopter crew spotted Nelson behind the burning garage, carrying an assault rifle. Moments later, a SWAT officer positioned on the roof of a next-door home shot the suspect, sending him collapsing onto the ground.
Paramedics took Nelson to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
No police personnel were injured during the violent encounter.
In addition to the assault rifle, officers found a pistol and a shotgun at the home. The suspect had fired each of the weapons during the confrontation, according to police.
There also were several other guns and ammunition on the property, police said.