Two people were dead Saturday night after gunshots were fired, a house caught fire, and police launched a lightning response in Simi Valley.
Police Sgt. Craig Dungan said a man killed his mother in the 1100 block of Mellow Lane before fleeing on a tractor and being fatally shot by police in the 500 block of Azure Hills Drive. Meanwhile, the mother's house caught fire.
The gunman was revealed as Ryan Carnan, 29. The name of the woman had not been released.
Dungan said police got a call at 4:44 p.m. from Carnan's brother, who said Carnan had told him he had killed his mother.
The violence apparently continued after the mother was killed.
Wendy Thompson, 44, of Simi Valley, said she was riding her bike on Mellow when she heard a bang.
Thompson had on her earphones but could still hear the sound of a gunshot, she said.
After a second shot, Thompson saw bullets hit the pavement close to her left side.
"I was, like, 'What is that?' at first. Then there was a 'bang-bang,' and then I saw them next to me," she said.
When she looked up, she saw a gunman shooting at her from in front of a home, she said.
Thompson said she started to ride away from the shots. She was not injured.
Cole Colvin, 16, was at his home nearby. From his backyard, he saw police and fire units heading toward the scene, he said.
He said he walked toward the area of the shooting and saw Thompson being shot at, he said.
"I basically froze and stood there," he said.
Soon, police said, the gunman got onto a tractor and rode to a trail known as Bridle Path.
Officers "located an individual riding a tractor and armed with a handgun," Simi Valley police spokeswoman Stephanie Shannon said. "Faced with a deadly force situation, those officers were involved in an officer-involved shooting."
The officers have been relieved of their duties for an investigation, which is standard procedure in this situation, she said.
The administrative investigation will parallel the criminal investigation, Shannon said.
The man was shot while still on the tractor and holding the handgun.
Copyright 2013 - Ventura County Star, Calif.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
