Self-Defense Is Tentative Ruling in Shooting of 3

Homicide investigators tentatively concluded Monday that a retired police sergeant acted in self-defense when he opened fire with a 12-gauge shotgun on a group of armed teen-agers who smashed their way into his home.

Earl Swoap, 53, killed one suspect and wounded two others in a bloody confrontation Thursday night as the intruders tried to flee from his salvos of buckshot.

“This falls into the area of justifiable homicide,” said Lt. Marc Hedgpeth, a police spokesman. “At this point, we don’t see any criminal wrongdoing on Mr. Swoap’s part. He feared for his safety. We see no indication that he did anything improper.”

Police turned over the findings of a preliminary investigation to the Orange County district attorney’s office, which will make a final determination on whether any criminal charges should be filed against Swoap.

Hedgpeth said that the D.A.’s office has indicated to detectives that there is no evidence at this time that Swoap did anything wrong. Under state law, civilians cannot be prosecuted on assault and homicide charges as long as they use deadly force to protect lives, not property.

Hedgpeth said the investigation, which includes statements from Swoap and other witnesses, indicates that Swoap was protecting himself and his wife from a group of four teen-agers who broke into his North Hanover Street home through a back door.

Swoap, a Hughes Aircraft security guard who retired from the Yakima, Wash., police force 13 years ago, told investigators that he was startled by a loud crash about 9:30 p.m., grabbed his shotgun and confronted the youths in a hallway. Three of them reportedly were armed.

In the series of events now being investigated, police said Swoap opened fire on the intruders as they attempted to flee out the back door. Swoap chased them outside and fired again as they were trying to escape in a car parked in his driveway. His shots blew out the car’s rear windows and two of its tires.

A 16-year-old boy who was mortally wounded in the shooting died Friday night after he was pronounced brain-dead and removed from life support at UCI Medical Center in Orange. His name has not been disclosed.

The two wounded suspects, a 17-year-old Garden Grove youth and 19-year-old Phouxay Vanhnarath of Costa Mesa, also were taken to the medical center for treatment. Both have been arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and burglary.

Vanhnarath, who was hit in the shoulder, was transferred to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where the county has a jail ward.

A fourth suspect, Sayavong Nanthavongdouangsy, 18, of Anaheim, also was booked for investigation of armed robbery and burglary. He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail in Anaheim City Jail.

Hedgpeth said Monday that detectives recovered a firearm at the scene that apparently belonged to one of the suspects. He also said a fifth suspect might be at large.

Donekeo Vanhnarath, Phouxay’s father, said Monday night that because he does not know American law, “it was hard” for him to say anything now except that he wanted a judge to decide the matter fairly.

Vanhnarath said his son told him that he and a group of 15 people were at a party and then went to Swoap’s home with someone who they thought was the owner of the property. He quoted his son as saying that he never entered the house and was wounded when Swoap came out with a shotgun.

“My son told me that he called 911,” Vanhnarath said. “Why would he call 911 for help if he was doing anything wrong?”

Vanhnarath spoke through an interpreter, Chongge S. Vang, national board secretary of Lao Family Community Inc., a social service agency that counsels Laotian refugees.

Police are still investigating whether the shooting occurred during an attempted home invasion, a particularly violent type of robbery in which the victims are threatened and held hostage while their homes are ransacked for valuables. Investigators say the crime is almost always committed by Southeast Asians against other Asians.

Swoap’s wife is Japanese, and the suspects are Laotian.

“We feel it was a home invasion, but we are not sure why they picked his house. It might have been a mistake,” Hedgpeth said. “This does not really fit the mold, and we don’t have the amount of home invasions that Garden Grove and Westminster have.”

Staff writer Rose Ellen O’Connor contributed to this report.