Gunman Is Found Dead After Standoff With Deputies

A Lancaster man was killed Tuesday after exchanging gunfire with sheriff’s deputies and barricading himself in his home for more than four hours, according to a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s SWAT team discovered Cameron Caldwell dead of a bullet wound in his home on West Overland Avenue following a four-hour standoff in which the 30-year-old opened fire on sheriff’s deputies with an assault rifle, Deputy Henry Garza said.

It had not been formally determined whether Caldwell was killed in the gunfight with deputies or committed suicide, Garza said.

“At this time, detectives believe he died as a result of deputy gunfire but will have to wait for results of a coroner’s investigation,” said Deputy Carrie Stuart. An autopsy on Caldwell will be performed later this week, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Police don’t have a motive for Caldwell’s actions.

“We don’t know what set him off,” Garza said. “Detectives are still trying to piece together why he did this.”

Shortly after 11 p.m, Caldwell’s neighbors alerted the Lancaster sheriff’s station that Caldwell was in his backyard carrying an assault rifle, Garza said. Deputies arrived and began evacuating residents. They also summoned SWAT and crisis negotiating teams.

But before the special teams could arrive, Caldwell began shooting at deputies from a second-story window. He fired on them sporadically over three hours while deputies returned fire, Garza said.

When attempts by negotiators to reach Caldwell by phone failed, members of the SWAT team fired tear-gas canisters into the home. They entered a short time later, Garza said.