Deputy Killed in His Home by Intruder

An off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy carrying his 5-year-old son into his Burbank home was shot and killed by an intruder seconds after entering his house early Saturday morning, police said.

Charles Robert Anderson, 35, an 11-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no suspects in the slaying.

Anderson and his wife, Beth, had just arrived at the couple’s two-story home on West Oak Street when the shooting occurred. Police said Anderson was the first to enter the house.

His wife, who was outside with the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, heard gunshots and, running inside, found her husband sprawled on the floor. She grabbed her son, who was unharmed, and fled with both children to a neighbor’s house to summon paramedics and police, Sheriff’s Deputy Roxanna Schuchman said. By the time police arrived, Anderson was dead and the intruder was gone, she said.

Burbank police officials and Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives, conducting a joint investigation into the slaying, speculated Saturday that Anderson may have surprised a burglar inside the house. Burbank Police Lt. Donald R. Brown said there were signs of forced entry. He did not specify where.

A neighbor, Linda Palmowska, said the neighborhood had been struck recently by a string of residential burglaries. She said a year ago she had walked in on a burglar in her house. The burglar ran out the back door when he saw her, she said.

As investigators roped off the house Saturday and searched for clues, Anderson’s wife and children were secluded at a neighbor’s home.

Anderson had been assigned to the advanced officers training section of the Sheriff’s Academy. Funeral services are pending.