ALISO VIEJO, Calif. -- A man who barricaded himself in an Aliso Viejo home killed himself with a shot to the head Friday during a standoff with an Orange County sheriff's SWAT team, authorities said.
The standoff between the SWAT officers and the man barricaded at 8 Rue du Chateau began around midnight as a deputy responded to a neighbor's complaint that a vehicle had been struck in a hit-and-run, according to the Sheriff's Department.
As the deputy was in the area, along with a tow truck operator who had been summoned to remove a vehicle believed to have been involved in the accident, a shot was fired, sheriff's officials said.
Orange County Sheriff's Department Assistant Chief Michael Hillman said the deputy reported that the bullet went over his head, but no one was hurt.
A sheriff's SWAT team was summoned, and nearby homes were evacuated. Sheriff's officials began speaking with the man by telephone, and tried to coax him into surrendering, Hillman said.
After about six hours, SWAT deputies accompanied by police dogs pumped tear gas into the residence and went inside the home, where they found the man locked in an upstairs closet, Hillman said. The man had armed himself with a
handgun, a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle, he said.
The man, who was about 39 years old, died at the scene of a self-inflicted wound to the head, said department spokesman Jim Amormino. His name was not immediately released.
