Father Kills Himself and Son, 3; Wounds Wife

A man who was distraught over marital problems shot and wounded his estranged wife outside her condominium Monday, then barricaded himself inside and killed the couple’s 3-year-old son and himself, sheriff’s deputies said.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team stormed the residence and found the man and child dead, after four hours of attempting to contact him by telephone and bullhorn.

Authorities said the dead had been tentatively identified as Calvin Manuel Stanfield, a 35-year-old San Fernando Valley resident, and his son, Dylan.

Rhonda Stanfield, 32, who was shot once in the hip, was in fair condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, hospital officials said.

Deputies said the incident began Monday afternoon, when Stanfield confronted his wife as she was exercising at Gold’s Gym in Northridge. The couple had been separated about two weeks, deputies said.

A quarrel followed, deputies said, and the woman telephoned the Devonshire station of the Los Angeles Police Department to make a complaint against her husband.

When she returned to her condo in the American Beauty complex in the 18000 block of Saratoga Way in Canyon Country about 4 p.m., her husband appeared again, deputies said, armed with a .30-30 rifle.

He fired several shots at her in the building’s courtyard, neighbors said.

A 9-year-old boy who had been watching from a balcony said, “She fell like a rag doll.” He asked not to be identified.

Neighbors called 911 as Stanfield took over the woman’s upper-floor condo and more shots were heard inside.

Paramedics carried the wounded woman from the courtyard as deputies stood guard. A Special Weapons and Tactics team landed in several helicopters on nearby Soledad Canyon Road--closing it off at the height of rush hour and causing a large traffic jam--and surrounded the complex.

Dozens of neighbors were evacuated from units in several buildings in the immediate area.

For four hours, members of the SWAT team tried to contact Stanfield, but received no response.

Finally, after 8:30 p.m., deputies burst into the condo and found the man and child dead. Stanfield had apparently killed the boy and himself shortly after entering the residence, deputies said.

The boy was believed to be the couple’s only child, deputies said.

Neighbors who had stood vigil in the night, awaiting word, burst into tears and hugged their children when it was announced that both father and son were dead.

Times correspondent Steve Ryfle contributed to this story.