Officers Kill Gunman When He Invades Police Station

An apparently deranged gunman died in a barrage of bullets at the Montclair police station Thursday after allegedly taking a secretary hostage, demanding to talk to the police chiefand the U.S. Marines and firing a shot at a plainclothes sergeant.

The gunman was identified as Adrian Mark Vasquez, 27. He was a resident of Montclair, 35 miles east of Los Angeles.

Vasquez was killed when six policemen opened fire on him just inside the front door of the station after he fired a shot from a .38-caliber revolver that missed the plainclothes officer and smashed through a window, Police Lt. Terry Gibson said.

“He was dead when he hit the floor,” Gibson said.

Members of Vasquez’s family said he had “mental problems from . . . drugs” and that he had told a nephew on Wednesday that he was “going to kill a cop,” Gibson said.

Vasquez had previously been in trouble with the law for drug and traffic violations, Gibson said, but details were not available.

Law enforcement authorities said they do not know why Vasquez demanded to talk to Police Chief Gregory Caldwell or the Marines.

“He was acting incoherently,” Gibson said.

The short drama in the neat, white, one-story station on a quiet street began about 8 a.m. when a police secretary, who was not identified, arrived at work and was followed by Vasquez through a security door for authorized personnel, Gibson said.

According to Gibson’s account, Vasquez took the secretary hostage at gunpoint and accompanied her to Caldwell’s office, which was vacant. He then demanded that she phone the chief, as well as the U.S. Marines.

The secretary instead called the police dispatcher, who alerted other officers. After a brief telephone conversation with Caldwell, who was in a conference room in another part of the building, Vasquez stepped into the hall, saw a plainclothes officer and fired a shot at him.

Vasquez then walked through the security door, saw more officers, raised his revolver and was cut down in the lobby by police gunfire, Gibson said.