A man suspected of fatally shooting two people in North Long Beach, and who was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following an hourslong standoff with police, was identified Tuesday.
Christopher Barnes fled to a nearby house following the Monday shootings and barricaded himself, according to the county Department of Medical Examiner and the Long Beach Police Department.
“SWAT made entry into the residence and located a male adult believed to be the suspect,” police said in a statement Monday following the ensuing standoff. “The man was deceased with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Officers initially responded to the 300 block of East 63rd Street, near Atlantic Avenue, about 11:15 a.m. Monday after reports of shots fired, police said. They found a woman with a gunshot wound to her upper body and a man with unspecified injuries.
Long Beach Fire Department paramedics took the woman to a hospital, where she later died. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The woman was identified by police as 51-year-old Shoneka Lars. The man was identified as Donnell Crosby, 71.
Detectives determined that Barnes and Lars were in a relationship, but the motive for the shooting remains under investigation. Crosby’s relationship, if any, to Lars and/or Barnes was unknown.