Video: Gunman Comes Out Shooting at Calif. Deputies after Hourslong Standoff
What to know
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The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office released drone and thermal camera footage, as well as audio recordings, of a July 27 Santee standoff in which an armed suspect fired on deputies and was fatally shot after failed negotiations.
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The incident began with a 9-1-1 call reporting that the suspect had threatened relatives with a gun and later barricaded himself in his ex-girlfriend’s home, before sending threatening texts and refusing to surrender.
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Deputies used chemical agents before the suspect exited and opened fire, with SWAT deputies returning fire as an armored vehicle was struck twice by gunfire.
By Teri Figueroa
Source The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office on Monday released footage of a fatal shootout that left a 55-year-old man dead after he had held deputies at bay outside a Santee home for several hours last month.
The nine-minute video also contains the 911 call from a family member alerting deputies that a relative had a gun and was threatening people. The video includes texts and video the man sent people during the ensuing standoff, and provides a narrative of what the department says happened throughout the incident.
The video shows overhead drone footage of what officials said is the man exiting the home and opening fire on deputies. Neither of the two deputies who returned fire recorded the incident; the department said batteries on their body-worn cameras ran out during the hours-long standoff. Another deputy’s camera caught audio during the gunfire, but the visuals are obscured.
San Diego police identified the man who deputies fatally shot as Santee resident Michael Redding. San Diego police are investigating the incident under a countywide protocol designed to keep local law enforcement agencies from investigating themselves when an officer or deputy opens fire.
The incident started shortly before noon on July 27, when a family member called 911 to report that his brother-in-law, later identified as Redding, had threatened him and his wife — Redding’s sister — with a handgun at the Willowgrove Avenue home they all shared. “He’s threatening everybody,” the 911 caller said after fleeing the home. He also acknowledged that Redding was suicidal.
The Sheriff’s Office says crisis negotiators got Redding on the phone just after 2:30 p.m., but he refused to surrender.
In the written narrative provided in the video, the department said the suspect texted friends and family, “indicating he was not going back to prison and was going to burn the house down,” and also sent a text he said was his will, which designated what he wanted done with his belongings.
Deputies obtained a search warrant and entered Redding’s residence. He was not there. They soon heard a gunshot coming from a home across the street where Redding’s ex-girlfriend lived.
As the SWAT team moved resources to that second home, Redding was inside its garage recording cellphone footage of them. He then texted it to a friend. That short video is included in a longer video the Sheriff’s Office released Monday. “Cops everywhere,” a voice, presumably Redding, says in that texted video. He also said he suspected deputies would “pepper-spray” him and the home.
According to the department, deputies with the SWAT team “breached” the front door and deployed a robot with a camera to look inside. The Sheriff’s Office said that when Redding saw it, he barricaded himself deeper into the home.
Just after 6 p.m., they tried to flush him out using “chemical agents,” the video states. Drone footage shows two armored vehicles parked outside the home, with deputies positioned in or around them as they waited for the man to emerge.
Moments later, he did. In the video, the Sheriff’s Office says he “came running out of the home holding a weapon and fired at the (Special Enforcement Detail) deputies staged in the front yard.”
Deputies returned fire. Redding was struck. He died at the scene.
The department also provided thermal imagery from the drone footage of the moment of gunfire. In that version, the footage is essentially in black and white and appears to show muzzle flashes from the man’s gun as he runs out of the home. The Sheriff’s Office indicated an armored car was struck twice by gunfire.
The department said Deputy Kevin McCauley and Deputy Parker Robbins opened fire. Deputy Luke Vories also opened fire, shooting projectiles considered less-lethal than regular bullets. All three are members of the SED/SWAT team. As is department policy, they were placed on administrative assignment until cleared to return to their duties.
The video can be found on the Sheriff’s Office’s YouTube channel.
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