Condo Blazes as Man Holes Up, Shoots at Police

A fire broke out Friday night in an Anaheim condominium complex where a 36-year-old man suspected of beating his wife had been barricaded for six hours, keeping police at bay by firing shots at them, officials said.

About 9 p.m., the man became agitated and fired several rounds at a police SWAT team that had surrounded the building, Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said.

Vargas said the man yelled at officers: “Anybody comes in here, I’m going to blow them up.”

At 9:45, the man fired about 20 rounds at police, Vargas said. Officers lobbed a chemical substance into the building, he said, and the fire broke out shortly thereafter, quickly engulfing part of the building.

Firefighters were unable to fight the blaze because the man continued to shoot, Vargas said.

Anaheim police had been called to the complex at 3 p.m. to investigate a report of domestic violence in the 900 block of South Cornwall Drive. Vargas said a woman reported that her husband was beating her.

When officers arrived, the man flashed a gun, retreated into his home and refused to come out, Vargas said.

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Police evacuated the neighborhood within a half-mile radius and brought in a SWAT team and a hostage negotiator.

Vargas said the police maintained contact with the man, who he said made no specific demands. Officers were trying to wait the gunman out when the fire broke out, he said.

Officers said they did not know whether the gunman was still inside the home late Friday as the fire spread.

Police have had previous incidents with the man they called “Robert,” Vargas said.

Officials said an evacuation center was set up at Magnolia High School in Anaheim for people displaced by the blaze.

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Also contributing to this report was Times correspondent John Canalis.