The San Diego Police Department Wednesday released video of a confrontation during which three officers opened fire on a gun-wielding man inside a Tierrasanta condominium building — missing him — shortly before the suspect fled outdoors and fatally shot himself.
The events that led to the gunfire began about 11:55 a.m. June 4, when a resident of the five-story complex in the 11200 block of Tierrasanta Boulevard made an emergency call to report seeing smoke coming from underneath the front door of one of her neighbors.
Getting no answer at the possibly burning first-floor unit, firefighters forced entry and saw the man who lived there, 62-year-old Ronald Rios, sitting on a couch. Confronted by the personnel, Rios raised a black pistol in their direction, and they hastily backed out, according to SDPD officials.
Officers then took up positions in hallways outside Rios’ residence and began trying to make contact with him, to no avail.
Finally, after about 20 minutes, the suspect walked out twice, both times pointing his handgun toward police, prompting SDPD Officers Jason Langley, Cassie Louret and Austin Thomas to fire on him.
Uniform-worn cameras captured footage of the police shooting, during which the officers discharged a total of more than a dozen rounds.
Following the bursts of police gunfire, Rios fled unharmed out a back door of his residence and made an unsuccessful attempt to enter a neighbor’s home.
A short time later, officers heard a single gunshot from behind the complex, and personnel aboard a patrol helicopter hovering overhead spotted Rios’ bloodied body slumped against the building. An autopsy determined that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
City News Service contributed to this article.