By Salvador Hernandez
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES COUNTY — A man who fired more than 100 bullets at pedestrians and law enforcement officials with a high-powered rifle and held deputies at bay for two days was found dead after barricading himself in a Valinda home, officials said.
Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department used armored vehicles to block bullets from hitting neighboring homes, and residents near where the man had barricaded himself were forced to evacuate their homes as the tense standoff continued into Sunday in the San Gabriel Valley.
The suspect was identified Monday by sheriff’s officials as 45-year-old Brandon Ursa. No more details about Ursa were released.
The suspect was found inside the home Sunday after killing himself, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said on Twitter.
Deputies were called to Wing Lane and Azusa Avenue on Friday afternoon after getting reports of an assault with a deadly weapon, officials said.
Armed with a high-powered rifle, a man fired at deputies as they arrived in the area, authorities said. Deputies returned fire, and the man barricaded himself inside a home at the 16900 block of Wing Lane, said Chief Jorge Valdez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department. During his communication with negotiators, the suspect gave no clear indication why he had opened fire Friday, Lt. Calvin Mah said during the press conference.
One woman was injured, but not shot, in the incident.
Ten families in the neighborhood were displaced over the weekend, as crisis negotiators and the sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau tried to end the standoff.
The families were placed at a nearby hotel, but it was unclear when they may be able to return to their homes because of the ongoing investigation, officials said Sunday.
Lt. Tom Giandomenico, of the sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau, said more than 100 shots were fired from the home.
Officials cut holes through the roof of the home to get cameras inside the house, hoping to get a look at the situation. Deputies also sprayed pepper spray into the home, hoping to make the gunman uncomfortable and make it more difficult for him to shoot out of the house, Giandomenico said.
Officials said the gunman was alone inside the home, but despite constant contact with crisis negotiators, the situation remained tense through Sunday.
“I could tell you at 2 o’clock in the morning [Sunday], he was still cussing and sending text messages about his ability to want to put harm on us and our personnel,” Giandomenico said at a press conference Sunday.
The home belonged to a girlfriend of the gunman, he said.
By 4 p.m. Sunday, deputies entered the home and found Ursa dead inside, Valdez said.
An official cause of death has not yet been determined, officials said, but investigators said an examination of Ursa’s body found cuts to his wrists that appeared to have been self-inflicted.
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