Police in Orange, Anaheim Kill Two Armed Men

Police shot and killed two men in Anaheim and Orange in unrelated incidents this weekend, both involving suspects with guns.

In Orange, Robert John Horst, 41, was fatally shot at his home.

Police were called shortly after 8 p.m. Friday to a house in the 600 block of East Jefferson Avenue, where there was a “family disturbance involving violence,” said Orange Police Sgt. Bob Gustafson.

The responding officer, who was not identified, was met by a relative who did not appear to be involved in the disturbance, police said.

“Both entered the residence and were immediately confronted by (Robert Horst), who was armed with multiple handguns,” according to a press release jointly prepared by Orange police and district attorney’s officials.

“A shooting occurred when (Horst) pointed a handgun at the officer,” the release said. Horst died at the scene.

The relative, whose identity was withheld by district attorney’s investigators, was shot in the left forearm.

Authorities were still investigating how many shots were fired and whether Horst fired any of them, Gustafson said.

Neighbor Rachel Hineman said that if the Horsts had a dispute, it was not apparent to their neighbors.

“Whenever he came home for his lunch, or breaks, she’d always walk him out to his car,” she said of Horst’s wife. “On the outside, it looked good. . . . I just wonder what it could have been. . . . It’s so depressing.”

Two teen-agers, a boy and a girl, lived with the Horsts, she said. Robert Horst worked at the swimming pool at Orange High School and his wife worked as a baby-sitter during the day, Hineman said.

“She’s a worker, mows the lawn. They’re a very active family.”

About 8:30 p.m., Hineman said, police told her to stay inside and turn her lights out. About 15 police searched the neighborhood for an hour and a half before she could turn her lights on again, she said.

“I said, ‘Did you get what you were looking for?’ They said, ‘We got things quieted down.’

“It was kind of wild.”

Police said they asked Hineman to turn out her lights so the officers wouldn’t be silhouetted as they approached the house. They asked her to stay inside for her own safety in case it was a hostage or barricade situation.

In Anaheim, police were called about 1:30 a.m. Saturday to investigate a report that men were drinking beer and causing a disturbance at 629 W. Vermont Ave., said Sgt. Frank Van De Weerd. The caller said one of the suspects may be armed, he said.

Officer Craig Palmer, 32, the first at the scene, found four men drinking beer and listening to a loud car stereo in the parking lot of large apartment complex, Van De Weerd said. As Palmer approached the group, Ruben Ayala, 28, of Anaheim, “drew a handgun and fired at the officer,” he said. Palmer “returned fire with his service handgun and the suspect fled,” he said.

Ayala was found behind the apartment complex, about 150 feet away, with a gunshot wound. When the the Anaheim Fire Department and paramedics arrived, the suspect was dead, Van De Weerd said.

Palmer was not hit when Ayala fired at him, police said. In accordance with department policy, the officer has been placed on leave to allow him to seek counseling if needed, a spokesman said.

Officials from the district attorney’s office, which looks into officer-involved shootings, will investigating both incidents, police said.

The two shootings came one week after Westminster police shot and killed an 18-year-old Westminster High School student in his driveway after he and others at a birthday party there allegedly attacked officers who were pursuing a suspect.

Frank Martinez struck one officer with a bottle and was coming at another officer when that officer pulled his revolver and fired one shot, killing him, Westminster police said. Others at the party had been beating the officers, who feared for their lives, police have said.

However, Martinez’s relatives--who were celebrating the 41st birthday of Frank’s mother, Amanda, when the shooting occurred--dispute the police version. According to the Martinezes, police were abusing Frank and an older brother, and family members were attempting to rescue them when Frank was shot. Frank was described as a polite young man who played basketball, coached sports at the local Boys Club and thought about becoming a police officer.

The district attorney’s office is also investigating the Westminster shooting.