Officer shot and killed suicidal gunman in Selma

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- When officers arrived at the property Thursday afternoon on Dinuba Avenue in Selma, they hoped for a peaceful ending. But at 9:30pm Action News learned the gunman had been shot and killed.

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The standoff ended when an officer shot the suspect with one round -- killing him in front of his trailer.

Cars and trucks transported SWAT officers in and out of the scene in Selma Thursday night. Crisis negotiators spent three hours trying to talk the suspect down.

"The suspect several times stated that he wanted to die. He wanted to kill himself. Several times he put the weapon to his own head. Moved it away back and forth from his own head and then away." said Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims.

Officers even tried using non-lethal force like sting balls to subdue the suspect. But it didn't work.

"Once the suspect recovered from the less lethal round -- he leveled the shotgun at deputy sheriffs. One deputy fired one round from his weapon striking the suspect. The suspect went down." added Mims.

Emergency crews tried to keep the suspect alive but he died moments later. Investigators say it all started when the landlord gave the suspect an eviction notice earlier in the day.

Onkar Baines lives next to the landlord who told Baines the suspect became angry and violent with a baseball bat. "He starts busting out all the windows. Started busting out all car windows. The house windows from what I've heard." said Baines.

"Pretty soon they said we had to leave." said another neighbor.

Deputies evacuated neighboring homes around four in the afternoon.

Brenton Schafer didn't even have time to grab his pants or a jacket. "So I figured well it's not going to be that long I'll just walk out to the front of the place and now we're down here." said Schafer.

Neighbors returned to their homes around nine after waiting in the cold for hours. No deputies were injured during the standoff.

Investigators say they had a prior history with the suspect at this same location months ago. Neighbors say it was over a domestic dispute.

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crimetracker, swat, selma, fresno county, local, tommy tran

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