LA PUENTE >> A domestic violence suspect fatally shot himself at the conclusion of a 12-hour standoff with deputies at a La Puente condominium Sunday, officials said.
The incident began about 12:25 a.m. when deputies responded to a report of domestic violence in the 900 block of Willow Avenue, near Amar Road, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Thurlo said.
Deputies encountered a woman suffering from apparently minor injuries to her face who told them she had been assaulted by her husband, the sergeant said.
The husband remained in the home and refused to come out, Thurlo said. The woman advised deputies the man was “heavily intoxicated” and had a rifle.
A short time later, “Deputies saw him in the garage with what appeared to be a rifle,” Thurlo said.
Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution, and a SWAT team was summoned to the scene to take over the situation.
After attempts to order the man out of the home via telephone and loudspeakers were unsuccessful, SWAT deputies launched tear gas into the garage shortly after 10 a.m. in an attempt to flush the suspect out, officials said.
SWAT team members heard a gunshot as they forced their way into the home about 12:35 p.m., Thurlo said. They then found the suspect inside the home, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was estimated to be in his 60s.
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau took over the investigation.