A man who officials said shot his wife before barricading himself inside a house was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after a 4-hour standoff.
The woman, 47, was shot several times and flown by helicopter to a hospital, where she was listed in stable condition, sheriff’s and fire officials said.
The dead man’s name was not available Saturday afternoon, coroner’s officials said.
Neighbors and firefighters said the man and woman were husband and wife, though sheriff’s officials said they did not know the relationship between the people Saturday afternoon.
Deputies responded about 9:15 a.m. to a report that a woman had been shot in the 20800 block of Calora Street, just west of Sunflower Avenue in an unincorporated county area near Covina, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Roxanne Hart said.
“She told deputies the man who shot her might still be inside the location,” the lieutenant said.
A sheriff’s SWAT team surrounded the house and tried to coax the suspect out.
After four hours without being able to establish communication with the man, SWAT deputies used tear gas to force their way inside.
They discovered the man inside the home, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sgt. Richard Ramirez said.
Neighbor Amna Jara, 34, said she called 9-1-1 after the wounded woman came to her for help. The woman was bleeding from her head and arm.
“She told me her husband shot her,” Jara said, adding that she did now know the couple.
Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Joe Rivera said the woman was shot in the left side of her temple, as well as in the left arm.
“She was conscious and coherent,” the captain said.
Several neighbors in the townhome complex said the man and woman had been living there for about a year.
Officials said the woman initially reported to rescuers that she had been arguing with her husband about his drinking and threatened to divorce him when he retrieved a gun and shot her.
Mark Lawler, 53, lives across the way from the home and was awakened by the woman’s screams for help.
He said he did not know the couple, but often heard them arguing loudly.
“They argued an awful lot,” he said. “And the arguments were really severe.” He added he did not know the couple personally.
Officials at the sheriff’s San Dimas station refused to say Saturday whether deputies have been called out to the home in the past.
Residents of nearby townhomes were evacuated during the incident and watched the standoff from the street.
Many covered their mouths and rubbed their eyes as traces of tear gas wafted toward the street.
Firefighters ventilated the home following the incident so that investigators could go inside.
Once it was determined the suspect was dead, the investigation was turned over to detectives from the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.