SoCal man accused in neighbor’s death kills himself after family flees

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A Southern California man suspected to have fatally shot a neighbor on Thursday ended an hours-long standoff with police by killing himself.

The man, identified only as Michael, was armed with an automatic or semi-automatic rifle and had barricaded himself in his apartment with his wife and two young children for several hours, Chula Vista Police Captain Lon Turner said.

However, the spouse and the children, both younger than 10, were able to leave the home before he took his own life about an hour later, he added.

Police, who suspected the man had shot his neighbor earlier in the day, arrived at the scene after several callers reported as many as 10 gunshots just before 8 a.m., Turner said.

Police initially told residents to shelter in place at the apartment complex in Chula Vista, a city about 7 miles (11 km) south of San Diego, but began evacuating them when the suspect stopped communicating, Turner added.

(Reporting by Marty Graham; Editing by Curtis Skinner, Cynthia Johnston, Eric Walsh and Clarence Fernandez)