Two arrested on suspicion of killing homeless shelter security guard

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Two men were arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting a security guard outside an East Village homeless shelter, police reported Tuesday.

Video footage from the area led investigators to identify suspects Floyd Garrett, 47, and Johnny Hill, 40, both of San Diego, San Diego Police Department acting Capt. Martha Sainz said.

Investigators tracked Garrett to Phoenix on Saturday, where he was arrested by the Phoenix Police Department. He will remain in custody in Phoenix, pending extradition hearings, Sainz said.

Hill was arrested in San Diego Tuesday without incident and was booked at the San Diego County Jail, Sainz said.

Garrett and Hill are accused of fatally shooting Ernest Lee Buchanan, 44, of San Diego, about 7:30 p.m. Saturday outside the Alpha Project tent shelter for the homeless at 1700 Imperial Ave., Sainz said.

Buchanan, who was a security guard at the shelter, was found on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead at a hospital, Sainz said.

The shooting does not appear to be connected to the Alpha Project shelter, Sainz said.

Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call the Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.