HUNTINGTON BEACH : Suicide on Pier Follows Standoff
A Riverside man shot and killed himself early Friday after a four-hour standoff with police on the Huntington Beach Pier, officials said.
Eric Collaso, 29, shot himself in the chest with an automatic handgun at the end of the pier at 6:15 a.m., said Lt. Jon Arnold. Collaso had been seen brandishing a gun about 2 a.m. on the beach near Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, Arnold said.
Moments later Collaso called police on a cellular telephone and threatened to kill himself, Arnold said.
Police negotiators spent hours trying to dissuade Collaso. Eventually, Collaso stepped over the pier’s retaining rail, shot himself in the chest and fell into the water, police said.
He was pronounced dead after he was pulled from the water.
“He said he was suffering from numerous lifelong problems” but did not elaborate, Arnold said.
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