A 50-year-old domestic violence suspect was found dead in a home in the Chatsworth area Monday after a roughly 10-hour standoff that began when he allegedly fired several shots at sheriff’s deputies.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of domestic violence about 2 a.m. at a home in the 9400 block of Thompson Avenue, just outside Los Angeles County in an unincorporated Ventura County community commonly considered part of Chatsworth, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies contacted a woman outside the home, then went to the rear of the property to contact the man involved in the confrontation, the watch commander said.
Shots presumably fired by the man rang out from inside the home, so deputies retreated and the house was surrounded.
“The subject stated he was armed with a gun and he fired several shots at the deputies from inside the residence,” according to a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department statement. “No deputies or residents were struck by the gun fire.”
The Los Angeles and Simi Valley police departments assisted until the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team arrived and assumed command of the operation.
Authorities deployed drones and crisis negotiators, but the suspect refused repeated commands to surrender.
“After obtaining a search warrant for the residence and failure to make contact with the subject, a window to the location was breached and a drone was inserted,” officials said. “The subject was located and appeared unresponsive. When SWAT members entered the location, they discovered the subject was deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
A nearby resident reported hearing gunshots shortly after waking around 3 a.m.
Video from the scene showed a large SWAT presence, with officers repeatedly calling for the suspect to surrender.