Man who smoked meth for ‘several days’ killed in shootout with deputies at Motel 6 in Twentynine Palms

A 39-year-old man is dead and a woman is in custody after a shootout with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies at a Motel 6 early Tuesday, authorities said.

Deputies were called to the motel in Twentynine Palms about 3:30 a.m. after receiving reports of a man with a gun, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Deputies went to the room of the person who had made the report and knocked on the door.

“Deputies heard a gunshot from inside the room; the door immediately opened, and the suspect fired a handgun at deputies,” the department’s statement said. “Fearing for their safety, deputies returned fire and retreated to cover. The suspect went back into the room and closed the door.”

The deputies ordered the man out of the room, but he refused. Instead, a woman later identified as Tani Garcia, 39, stepped out and was taken into custody.

Garcia, who was not injured, told authorities that the gunman was still alive but wounded. She said he had “been up for several days smoking methamphetamine” and had checked in to the motel the night before because he thought he and Garcia were being followed by people who wanted to kill them.

The standoff continued until about 8 a.m., when a SWAT team sent a robot into the room and found the gunman dead. A loaded 9-millimeter handgun was found near his body and two loaded magazines were found in his pockets, authorities said.

Garcia was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance. No deputies were injured. The gunman was identified Thursday as Dominic Hodges of Yucca Valley.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

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UPDATES:

2:40 p.m.: This article was updated with the identity of the gunman.

This article was originally published at 2:15 p.m.