SAN MARCOS, Calif. - A suspected intruder was killed Thursday morning following a confrontation with sheriff's deputies in a San Marcos neighborhood.
Sheriff's officials said deputies responded to a burglary/home invasion report at a home in the 600 block of Edgewater at around 3 a.m.
According to officials, a homeowner said he woke up to noise coming from the first floor of his house, and when he went downstairs, he saw a baseball bat-wielding stranger in his home and called 911.
The homeowner locked himself, his wife and their two adult sons in upstairs rooms while awaiting the arrival of deputies, Lt. Greg Rylaarsdam said.
Patrol personnel surrounded the residence and entered through an unlocked rear sliding-glass door, encountering the intruder, whose arms were full of items belonging to the victims, Rylaarsdam said.
When the deputies directed the suspect to show them his hands and get on the floor, he instead fled into the garage, where he tried to start one of the family's vehicles. Unsuccessful, he got into a second one and managed get the engine running.
While in the garage, the man threatened to kill deputies and himself, claiming to be carrying a "Glock 40" gun, the lieutenant said. Using a remote control inside the car, the suspect opened the automatic garage door and tried to back the car out, causing it crash to a halt into a third vehicle parked in the driveway.
He then attempted in vain to use the vehicle he was driving to push the other one out of the way. He then got out, ran out into the driveway and confronted the deputies, Rylaarsdam said. One of them responded by shooting him with his service pistol as another fired a beanbag shotgun at him.
As the personnel took the suspect into custody, he continued to shout and resist, Rylaarsdam said. They then determined that he had suffered a bullet wound to the upper body.
Deputies called for medical aid and immediately began CPR. Paramedics arrived a short time later but attempts the revive the man were unsuccessful, and he was ruled dead at the scene.
Deputies were not injured in the incident. The suspect's name has not been released.
Neighbors were stunned.
Dennis Qurentos told 10News, "We've been here 12, 13 years; this is first time this kind of thing happened."
Some were shaking their heads.
Kipp Pepin was taking his grandchild for a ride in a stroller. "To risk your life for stupid materialistic stuff, it's not worth it."
Nghi Dao talked about additional security measures.
"This is a wakeup call; we often leave doors unlocked but after this, yeah, think twice, make sure everything is locked up."
The incident remains under investigation.
