Standoff Ends When Police Shoot Gunman

A 35-year-old man who barricaded himself in his apartment with two of his children was shot and injured Sunday in an exchange of gunfire with police, officials said.

Another man, visiting relatives in a different apartment, was struck in the arm by a stray bullet during the siege, which kept residents of the Pepper Tree Apartments in the 11000 block of Cynthia Circle from their homes for almost three hours.

Neighbors said the incident apparently began when residents Ivan and Sue Leslie got into an argument and someone called police. It ended when Ivan Leslie was wheeled out on a stretcher from his apartment about 5 p.m. and taken to UCI Medical Center. He was in serious condition Sunday evening with a bullet wound to the stomach, according to the hospital’s clinical coordinator.

Garden Grove Police Sgt. Dale Farley said that one officer was sent to the complex shortly after 2 p.m. That officer, whose name was not released, later called for help and was joined by other officers, including SWAT team members.

“When they contacted Ivan Leslie, he became uncooperative and subsequently pointed a weapon at the officers,” Farley said. “The officers fired and Leslie was wounded.”

As SWAT team members crawled around and on top of the nearby apartments, some of the residents huddled near a wall behind the complex, waiting for the standoff to end. Some of them said Leslie and the first police officer to arrive at the complex became involved in an argument.

Neighbor Mary Ingersoll said she heard a discussion between the officer and Leslie that gradually became more heated.

“She (the officer) was yelling, ‘I didn’t do nothing to you, I didn’t do nothing to you,’ ” Ingersoll said.

“They were pushing each other,” said Allen Dean Burnett, 17, who lives near the Leslies.

Linda Burnett, Allen’s mother, said she saw the police officer poke and shove Leslie, and he did the same to her.

“He kept pulling out his wallet. It looked like a badge,” Burnett said. “She was getting hot with him.”

Maurice Chandler, a security supervisor at the complex, said Leslie worked as a security officer somewhere else. He said he had never seen him with a weapon. Police could not confirm if Leslie was a security officer.

“He’s been here about six months,” Chandler said. “I talked to him four days ago, and he had a smile on his face. . . . I couldn’t imagine what touched it off. They all seemed so happy.”

Erica Brannon, 11, another neighbor, said she saw one of Leslie’s daughters hiding behind her father during the argument.

“I heard the little girl crying,” she said.

After talking with the officer for about 10 to 15 minutes, neighbors said, Leslie went into his apartment and the officer followed him. But in a few minutes, the officer ran out of the apartment, Linda Burnett said, and sought cover on the side of the apartment.

At that time, several police officers arrived and swarmed the area, she said.

Farley said that after Leslie was shot, officers went into the apartment and brought out Leslie and two children. Neither child was hurt.

Linda and Allen Burnett said they were on their patio when they heard the shooting start.

“I said, ‘Get in the house, get in the house, they’re shooting,’ ” she said.

Allen Burnett added, “I’m pretty sure he (Leslie) shot first because the guns sounded different, and then the police shot back.”

Percy Vivian, who was visiting from Mexico, was walking through the courtyard with his relatives to their car because they planned to spend the afternoon at Disneyland.

“The shot hit the sidewalk, and then it bounced toward me,” said Vivian, showing the flesh wound on his right forearm that the bullet left. “It only frightened me a little.”

Linda Burnett said she “made him (Vivian) come in my house when they started shooting. I thought he was shot real bad because at first he wasn’t moving.”

One neighbor, who didn’t want his name used, was on a balcony when the shooting started.

“I crawled on the ground to get in my house,” he said.