Body of Man, Apparent Suicide, Found in Newport Beach Street

Police sealed off a neighborhood and searched the area Saturday morning after the body of a man with a gunshot wound to the head was found in the street by a passing motorist.

No suspect was found, and by Saturday afternoon police said they were investigating the case as a probable suicide. They said, however, that foul play had not been ruled out.

Police found the body of the unidentified man, described as being in his 40s, near the curb about 8:30 a.m., with a trail of blood leading to a house in the 3200 block of Clay Street. The door to the house was open, so the responding officer called for help to search for a possible murder suspect.

Police evacuated a one-block area and SWAT team members were called to enter the house. By noon, the area was declared safe.

Police Lt. Paul Henisey said search teams found a rifle inside the home that is believed to be the weapon that killed the man with a shot to the head. They also found “indications that this was an apparent suicide.” Henisey did not elaborate on the evidence, but he said there was no suicide note.

“The indications are suicide and that’s the line of investigation that they’re following,” Henisey said. “However, because the circumstances are unusual, they haven’t completely ruled out that maybe there was somebody else involved in some way, shape or form.”

Henisey said officers responded to a call of an attempted suicide at the same home on Tuesday. When they arrived, however, they found the resident watching television and claiming he was fine. Henisey said police are investigating whether the victim is the same man who talked to officers last Tuesday.

Henisey said the evidence indicates that the man was wounded inside the home and that he subsequently walked about the house before he staggered outside and died in the street. Police said they believe the death occurred between 7 and 8:30 a.m., when the body was found by a passing motorist.