Gunman Found Dead in Motel After 14-Hour Anaheim Standoff

A man outfitted with an assault rifle, grenades, body armor, a gas mask and other military gear blew himself up Sunday after barricading himself in a motel room and holding police at bay for nearly 14 hours.

The man, suspected of shooting and wounding a convenience store clerk early Sunday morning, was found dead on the floor of the motel room at about 8:30 p.m., moments after a SWAT team entered.

Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said the man apparently died of injuries when one of his explosives detonated. Vargas said the man’s body, clad in camouflage and a gas mask, showed massive trauma. Authorities had not determined whether the explosion was triggered accidentally or deliberately.

“We don’t believe he was suicidal, but anything is possible,” Vargas said. Two unexploded grenades were found in the room.

The dead man was not identified Sunday night, and it was unclear whether he was the same man--a New Mexican in his 40s--who had rented the room at the Calico Motel, Vargas said. Authorities in New Mexico had located a previous residence for the man who registered at the motel, Vargas said. The residence showed evidence of a military background or an infatuation with the military, Vargas said.

Near the end of the standoff, during which the man fired several rounds at police and fended off the effects of tear gas, officers sent a robot to peer through one window, and a motel surveillance camera looked through another. Both revealed the man lying motionless on the floor.

Then, shortly after 8 p.m., the SWAT team entered and found the man dead.

The daylong standoff began about 6:30 a.m., after the man allegedly shot a store clerk and retreated to a room in the adjacent motel.

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

Attempts to flush the man out throughout the day failed.

Shortly after noon, police fired tear gas canisters into the motel room.

They threw a telephone through the motel room window in hopes of establishing communication. That prompted a burst of gunfire--some 10 rounds of ammunition--from the room, which sent SWAT team members ducking for cover.

Late in the afternoon, the man began talking to a police negotiator and said he was wearing a gas mask and body armor. That was apparently his last communication with officers.

After the sound of an explosion, police sent a robot to peer into the window of the room.

The incident began when the man apparently argued with the clerk at the Circle K market adjacent to the motel, police said.

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

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

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

Patchin said he stood by the victim until paramedics arrived.

The convenience store clerk apparently had ended his shift and was walking out of the market when the gunman fired at him, Patchin said.