SWAT Team Shoots, Kills Man in Beaumont Standoff

Editor's note/update:  The coroner's office has now identified the man shot and killed during Monday's incident.

Original story as follows:

BEAUMONT, CA -- A multi-agency response to a call of a "barricaded subject" at a Beaumont home Monday ended in the deadly shooting of the suspect, officials report.

The man's wife and a baby who were inside the home are unharmed, police say.

"The initial call was that this man was trying to kill his wife," according to Riverside Sheriff's Deputy Albert Martinez, whose agency has taken on a lead role in the investigation. 

The incident first began around 9 a.m. in a Beaumont neighborhood about two miles west of Beaumont High School.

It all started when a woman called the Beaumont Police Department for help, saying that she believed her husband was going to kill her.  Police responded, and found the man locked out of the home on the 1700 block of Morgan Avenue, south of Brookside Avenue, according to Martinez.

"As they responded an officer did see the subject which matched the description of the person in question," he said.  "While he was making contact with this person, this person went into the garage of the residence of the female who called lives at."

"As the gentleman went back into his residence, in the garage area, the Beaumont police department had him in sight there," he added.  "At that time, we knew that the female was possibly inside the residence with her baby.  There were several attempts that were made in calling that resident; all we would get is someone hanging up."

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Police first tried to coax the man out "who wasn't obeying the officers' commands" by sending in a California Highway Patrol K-9, Martinez said.  That K-9, "Ranger," was shot, according to Martinez and CHP Officer Darren Meyer.

"At that point, once the K-9 was inside the garage, there was one gunshot that was heard, and the K-9 was hit by the suspect," Martinez added.

When the SWAT team, who had responded in the meantime, heard the the shot around 12:30 p.m. that wounded the canine, they saw the man with the gun-- who was at that point trying to force his way into the locked home via the garage entrance, Martinez said.

"The SWAT officers came and assisted Beaumont and they took a position where they could see the suspect, and they could clearly see that the officer was armed," Martinez said.  "At one point the suspect began breaking the door that goes between the garage to the inside of the residence, and at that time, the officers fired and struck the suspect."

The man died a short time later at the scene, according to Martinez.

The man, who has only been identified as a 38-year-old Beaumont resident, was found with a gun, Martinez added.

"'Ranger' has been taken to the local veterinary clinic here in Beaumont, and the prognosis is good," CHP Officer Meyer said.

The 2 1/2 year-old Dutch Shepard has been Officer Brice Murille's partner for the last year, he added.

"Whether he'll return to work is unknown," Meyer said, adding that many of the CHP officers had gathered at the clinic "hoping for a good recovery."

Beaumont police tell Patch that they've responded to calls at this location before, but never for anything criminal.