SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A man suspected of fatally shooting his mother and two dogs exchanged gunfire with San Diego Police, barricaded himself inside an Encanto home and set the house on fire during a standoff but was eventually shot and killed by an officer.
SDPD officials said officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Iona Drive at around 8:42 p.m. Monday in response to reports of shots fired inside a home.
Officers arrived to find a woman and a dog both suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and down in the home’s driveway.
When officers tried to help the woman and dog, a man shot towards them from inside the house, prompting one of the officers to return fire.
SDPD officials said it was unknown if the man inside the home was struck by the officer’s gunfire.
As the man continued to fire shots at them, officers moved the woman and dog away from the home. Despite life-saving measures, the woman and dog were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
After a SWAT unit was called in, officers tried to get the man inside the house to surrender, but he refused. At one point during the standoff, the man set fire to the house.
The situation ultimately came to an end when the man, armed with a rifle, was shot by an officer, SDPD officials said.
The man was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries just before 11 p.m.
According to officials, “Multiple firearms including a rifle, shotgun, and handgun were located at the residence.”
Police confirmed a second dog was found dead during the investigation following the standoff.
SDPD Homicide Unit detectives are investigating the death of the woman, and officials stated, “It is still early in the investigation, and little is known about the circumstances leading up to the female’s death, other than it appears the suspect is the victim’s son and for unknown reasons he shot and killed his mother and two dogs.”
The deceased woman was identified by police as a 74-year-old Hispanic female; the suspected shooter was described by police as a 43-year-old Hispanic male.
No officers were injured in the incident.
Per county protocols, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the SDPD Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
