SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Police Department identified the man accused of shooting and killing his mother and two dogs before exchanging gunfire with officers, leading to an intense SWAT standoff in Encanto.
In a press release sent Friday, SDPD says Jesse Nelson, 43, was the suspect. His mother, 74-year-old Maria Morales, died at the scene from gunshot wounds.
Officers were first sent to the 500 block of Iona Drive around 8:40 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28, after receiving reports of a shooting at a home.
According to police, officers found Morales and a dog suffering from gunshot wounds in the home's driveway, and as they tried to help them, Nelson started shooting at them. The officers moved the woman and dog away as the suspect kept shooting, and despite trying to give them aid, they both died.
A SWAT unit was called in, and Nelson refused to cooperate as he barricaded himself inside. At one point during the standoff, he set the house on fire. SDPD set a perimeter and evacuated nearby residents.
The standoff ended when an officer shot Nelson, according to SDPD. Nelson was taken to a hospital nearby, where he died before 11 p.m. Monday.
Nelson used a rifle during the standoff, and police found more weapons, including a shotgun and handgun, inside the house. A second dead dog was found during the initial investigation.
SDPD's release says no officers or other people in the area were hurt during the shooting and subsequent standoff.
Officers Darwin Anderson and Matthew Steinbach were identified as the SDPD personnel who fired their weapons, the release says. Anderson has been on the force since Sept. 2021, and he works out of the department's southeastern division. Steinbach is assigned to the western division and is part of the SWAT unit. He's been with SDPD for 11 years.
For transparency purposes, SDPD does not investigate its own police shootings. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is still investigating the shooting.
If you have any information for the sheriff's department about this case, reach out to the homicide unit at 858-285-6330. To stay anonymous with your tip, reach out to Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
