Fatal Riverside Gas Explosion Apparent Suicide, Officials Say

A weapons fancier apparently took his own life early Wednesday by touching off a gas explosion that demolished his home and damaged nine others nearby, one of them severely, authorities said.

Riverside Fire Department Capt. Ed Couchman said investigators believe that Russell Gurney, 42, had turned on gas lines in the kitchen and in the fireplace before the 12:47 a.m. explosion in the 6200 block of Stover Avenue in west Riverside.

In addition, investigators found a .45-caliber pistol “that had been discharged” beside Gurney’s body in a rear bedroom of the one-story brown stucco house, Couchman said. Coroner’s investigators were trying to determine whether a wound in Gurney’s body was caused by the gunshot or the explosion, he said.

“It appears to have been suicide,” Couchman said. “We are theorizing that the victim was depressed about being separated from his wife for about 2 1/2 years.”

Neighbors described Gurney as a lonely, moody and eccentric recluse whose weapons collection included pistols, rifles, shotguns, a crossbow, knives and throwing axes. They said he had not worked for some time. Neighbor Phil Monroe said Gurney recently had talked of suicide “because he was generally unhappy with his life.”

The powerful blast knocked several neighbors out of their beds. Some said they ran into the street to find the area bathed in the red and yellow light of a fireball that soared above Gurney’s house and heard what they believed was the sound of ammunition detonating inside.