EL MONTE >> Coroner’s officials Saturday identified a 61-year-old man found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting and critically wounding another man in a neighborhood dispute.
Thanh Cao was pronounced dead shortly after 1:30 p.m. Friday after a SWAT team stormed into his home in the 11400 block of Elmcrest Street in El Monte, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. David Smith said.
An autopsy was pending to determine an officials cause of death, Police found Cao fatally shot in a room he was believed to have been in by himself, El Monte police Lt. Chris Williams said.
Officials said Cao shot a neighbor — described as a man in his 50s — multiple times about 7:30 a.m. Friday. Further information regarding the nature of the dispute that led to the shooting was not available.
The first police at the scene scooped up the wounded man, placed him in a police car and rushed him down the street to waiting paramedics, Williams said. He was hospitalized at a trauma center in critical condition.
Acting on witness reports that the shooter — later identified as Cao — had gone into a home, police ordered anyone inside to come out, Williams said. Two people emerged and told police that Cao had gone into a bedroom just before they heard a single gunshot.
A SWAT team surrounded Cao’s home and spent five hours trying to communicate with him before ultimately forcing their way in, William said. They then discovered Cao, fatally wounded.
A search of public records indicates Cao has lived in the home for 12 years, and in the neighborhood for more than 20 years.
Mourning family members gathered at the scene Friday declined to comment.