Marine Shoots Self After Kidnaping, 2 Killings

A Marine who kidnaped his estranged wife, and killed two people who tried to intervene, shot himself in the head Monday after freeing his wife, police said.

The bloody 18-hour string of events ended at noon, when Lance Cpl. Timothy Clemons, 22, of Chicago put a gun to his head after being confronted by military police at his old barracks.

His wife, Debra Hearn, who two weeks ago was granted a temporary restraining order against Clemons, apparently persuaded him to release her after he abducted her Sunday night and drove to Mexico, said Carlsbad Police Lt. Michael Shipley.

The two returned by bus to Carlsbad on Monday morning. Hearn called her parents while Clemons went to the base.

Clemons’ condition was not immediately released. He is expected to be transferred from a hospital at Camp Pendleton to the Naval Hospital in San Diego.

On Sunday evening, Clemons shot to death two of Hearn’s friends outside the Carlsbad shopping mall where she worked, Shipley said.

As horrified bystanders looked on, Clemons confronted Hearn as she left work about 6:30 p.m. When the two friends waiting to drive her home tried to intervene, Clemons shot both, Shipley said.

Manique Mejia, 18, Hearn’s roommate, died in surgery at Palomar Medical Center. A 21-year-old man, whose name was not released Monday, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Clemons grabbed his wife and took off in his car, Shipley said. On Monday morning, after driving to Tijuana and threatening his wife, he agreed to take a bus back to Carlsbad, a San Diego suburb.

After leaving Hearn at the bus station, Clemons returned to the barracks where he had lived before marrying, authorities said. Someone at the barracks called police. When an MP approached with a gun and ordered Clemons to surrender, Clemons shot himself, a spokesman said.