Edwin Rivera, 20

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Edwin Rivera, 20, a young Latino man, was shot and killed by a sniper in a police standoff at 19828 Welby Way in Winnetka shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 7. According to police, Edwin has been identified as the suspected shooter in the killing of his father, Gerardo Rivera, 54, and two brothers, Endi Rivera, 25, and Edgar Rivera, 21. All three were declared dead at the scene, police said. In addition, Edwin allegedly shot two veteran SWAT officers, killing Officer Randal Simmons, 51, and critically injuring Officer James Veenstra, 51, who is recovering from surgery at Northridge Medical Center.

At a news conference Friday, Deputy Chief Gary Brennan said Edwin was experiencing mental health problems, which became ‘progressively worse’ after the death of his mother when he was 10 or 11 years old. His mother had died of cancer, KCAL 9 reported. Police said Edwin was not a gang member, although he had a juvenile criminal record that included three convictions. The most serious came in 2004, when he was found guilty of assault with a firearm and sentenced to probation for pointing an unloaded gun at other men during an argument, police said. Between 2005 and 2006, police responded to minor disturbances at the house. In one incident two years ago, there was a drive-by shooting near the residence, but police said Edwin was not involved.

A blaze had started when tear-gas canisters were fired into the house to flush Edwin out. A police sniper fatally shot Edwin as he came out of the burning home, still shooting. For more, check out the Los Angeles Times story:

Click on the headings below to read more about the incident:

LAPD deeply shaken by nightlong siege

Shooter’s family expresses grief and surprise

Officer saw his work as a calling

Click on the jump to read about another standoff in Cerritos.

A 58-year-old Cerritos man whose son was killed in 2006 is undergoing mental evaluation today after he called police to his home Thursday night (Feb. 7) for a two-hour standoff, falsely claiming that he had shot his son and was holding the rest of his family hostage, authorities said.

The man called 911 at about 10:15 p.m., requesting paramedics respond to his home in the 17200 block of Ibex Avenue, said Sgt. Donald Alexander with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Cerritos Station. When deputies responded, the man briefly came out the front door, then went back inside, ignoring deputies’ requests that he come talk to them.

The man apparently made a second call to deputies from inside the house, complaining that he had asked for paramedics and there were too many people gathered outside, including a SWAT team, a mental evaluation team and a helicopter.

Authorities entered the house about midnight, Alexander said, where deputies found no victims, hostages or weapons and determined the call was a hoax. The man then told authorities that he had not placed the cellphone calls, although his voice matched the recordings. Authorities were unable to locate the phone, Alexander said.

‘The whole thing is weird,’ Alexander said.

Authorities did not arrest the man, but brought him to a hospital for a 72-hour mental evaluation.

Although deputies did write up a report naming the man as suspected of falsely reporting an emergency, they will likely not pursue the charge.

‘We thought that it was more appropriate to have him mentally evaluated than to charge him with a crime,’ Alexander said. ‘Basically it’s more important to get him helped.’

The man’s 38-year-old son was killed two years ago; a trial in the case is just beginning, Alexander said.

-Susannah Rosenblatt / LAT