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Photo by Jerry Collier
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| Members of the L.A. County Sheriffs Department surround a Baseline Road home Tuesday morning where Kenneth Maurice James III barricaded himself after shooting his wife. |
Violent standoff shocks neighborhood
A domestic dispute turned violent early Tuesday morning after a man shot his wife and barricaded himself inside their Baseline Road home. The 4-hour long standoff ended when Los Angeles County SWAT team officers raided the home to find the man dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The woman, who fled the home to a neighboring home after being shot, is expected to survive.
Around 6:18 a.m., police dispatch received a 911 call from the man, identified by police as Kenneth Maurice James III, who stated that his wife had been shot at their home. Moments later, another call came in from the neighbor’s home regarding the shooting.
“She was in pain but it didn’t look too bad,” said Earl Dusenberry, a neighbor who took in the woman after being shot. “There was some blood on her chest and some coming out her back.”
Officers from L.A. County Sheriffs Department and the Claremont Police Department responded in full force to the homes, located on the 800 block of West Baseline Road. The injured woman was taken from the neighbor’s home without incident and airlifted to a hospital for treatment. She is listed in stable condition, Sheriffs Spokesman Denise Fuchs said.
Meanwhile, the man barricaded himself inside the home along with his 92-year-old mother-in-law. The couple also lives with the wife’s brother, who runs a limousine service from the house but was not at home during the incident. (story continues below)
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Photo by Jerry Collier
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| Members of the L.A. County SWAT team and L.A. County Sheriffs Department surround a home on the 800 block of West Baseline Road on Tuesday during a tense standoff with Kenneth Maurice James III. |
As police and news helicopters buzzed overhead, neighbors were alerted of the incident and many were evacuated from the area. Traffic was halted between Towne and Mountain avenues for much of the morning.
A canine unit searched the neighborhood for the man before police were sure he was still inside the home. At some point during the conflict, SWAT team members entered the home and were able to evacuate the elderly woman unharmed.
After repeated attempts to make contact with the man were unsuccessful, a special forces unit reentered the home just after 10 a.m. Officers found the man dead from a gunshot wound to the head that police believe was self-inflicted.
The home is located in a pocket of unincorporated Los Angeles County, directly across from the city’s proposed affordable housing site.
Neighbors said they had no indication that something like this could happen. They described the couple as being friendly and social. Mr. James was often seen doing gardening, hosting barbeques and waving to passing neighbors.
“I’m just shocked,” said one neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s a real tragedy.”
Another neighbor said he believed Mr. James to be a retired law enforcement officer from Hawaii, although police officials could not confirm this.
“I always see this stuff on the news,” Mr. Dusenberry said. “But it always happens so far away.”
—Tony Krickl
