Man Dead After Shooting, 14-Hour Standoff

A man armed with an assault rifle, grenades and other military gear died Sunday night after barricading himself in a motel room and holding police at bay for nearly 14 hours.

The man, a suspect in the shooting of a convenience store clerk early Sunday morning, was found dead on the floor of the motel room about 8:30 p.m.

A police SWAT team entered the room after a robot peered through a front window and a fiber-optic camera sent pictures from a rear window. Both showed the man motionless on the floor.

Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said the man apparently died of injuries when one of his own explosives detonated. He said there was massive trauma to the man’s body.

He did not know whether the explosive ignited accidentally or whether the man intentionally detonated it.

“We don’t believe he was suicidal, but anything is possible,” Vargas said. SWAT team members found two live grenades in the room.

The man had not been identified Sunday night, and it was not clear whether he was the same person who had rented the room at the Calico Motel on Beach Boulevard, Vargas said. The person to whom the room was registered was from New Mexico and in his 40s, he said.

Authorities in New Mexico had been alerted and had found a previous residence for the man who had registered at the motel, Vargas said. The residence showed evidence of a military background or an infatuation with the military, Vargas said.

The daylong standoff began shortly after 6:30 a.m. when the man allegedly shot a store clerk. The suspect had apparently argued with the clerk, who was working at the Circle K market adjacent to the motel and a doughnut shop, police said. He then fled to the motel room.

Anaheim SWAT team members took positions on the roofs of surrounding buildings after evacuating nearby motels and stores along Beach Boulevard and Orange Avenue.

Attempts to flush out the man failed throughout the day. Early in the afternoon, police tried to throw a communication phone through the motel room window, but the man fired off nearly 10 rounds of ammunition, sending the SWAT team ducking for cover.

Police lobbed tear gas into the motel room about 2 p.m. Half an hour later, an explosion was heard in the room. A second attempt to toss in a telephone was successful, and the man began talking to a police negotiator. He said he was wearing a gas mask and body armor. About 5 p.m., another explosion was heard, and communication ended.

The injured convenience store clerk was listed in critical condition late Sunday at UCI Medical Center in Orange. He was identified as Jonathan Ed Sumey, 35, of Anaheim. Authorities said he was shot in the head.

Leroy Patchin, who witnessed the shooting as he was buying his morning coffee at the market, said the suspect shot at him as well but missed.

Patchin said he ran to the back of the market, hiding in the office with the morning clerk until they thought the gunman had gone.

When he believed it was safe to come out, Patchin said, he stood by the victim until paramedics arrived.

“It’s a real shame what happened,” Patchin said.

The night clerk apparently had finished his shift and was walking out of the market when the gunman fired on him, Patchin said.

Christy Lane, a resident of the Calico Motel, said she knew the wounded clerk. She described him as a friendly man who knew how to deal with troublesome customers.

An insomniac, Lane said she often visited with the clerk in the early morning hours. The two would chat for hours, Lane said.

“I’m very upset about this,” said Lane, wearing a nightgown and a jacket as she stood outside a shelter set up by the Red Cross for those evacuated during the standoff. “He always made me feel better. I really broke down when I found out it was him.”