Deputy-involved shooting leaves one dead in Encinitas

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The calm of a peaceful Encinitas neighborhood was shattered Friday when residents heard the sound of gunshots from an AR-15 Rifle by a sheriff’s deputy who felt his life was threatened when a suicidal man pointed a shotgun at him.

Deputies said it was a classic case of “suicide by cop” where a man holding a shotgun implored authorities to shoot him.

A yellow tarp covered the body of a 56-year-old Encinitas man who had just been shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.

Next to the body was the shotgun deputies said the man pointed at them before they opened fire.

The drama started Friday morning in the 2000 block of Shadytree Lane when the sheriff’s department received a 911 call, but the caller hung up without saying anything.

Deputies were on high alert when they realized they had been summoned to the residence days earlier, a residence known to have a history of weapons.

When deputies arrived on scene, they were met by a woman who told then her husband wanted to die.

Moments later, a neighborhood resident directed deputies to a grassy area where the man was sitting.

He was holding a shotgun and had it pointed at himself.

When deputies told him to drop the shotgun, they said the man told them to shoot him.

Then the man turned the shotgun towards the deputies and one deputy opened fire with an AR-15 Rifle, hitting the man several times.

The man fell, but continued to point the shotgun at them and the deputy fired again killing the man.

One AR-15 round traveled through the wall of a nearby home and went through a mattress, but no one was hurt.

Shadytree Lane is a peaceful pocket of Encinitas, featuring cozy culs-de-sac, tennis courts and swimming pools, which is why for its residents, a yellow body tarp with a shotgun nearby is a most disturbing image.

Residents said the man who was shot was dealing with marital problems.