Man Found Dead After Standoff With Deputies

A 58-year-old Carson man was found dead after a gunfight and standoff with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies Thursday. Authorities are investigating whether the fatal shot came from a deputy’s gun or the victim’s.

The incident, which began shortly after 9 a.m., ended at 3:30 p.m. when a special investigations team entered a home in the 19300 block of Northwood Avenue and found John Marshall in an upstairs bedroom, dead from a gunshot wound, Deputy Rick Martinez said.

Before entering the home, crisis negotiators had made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the victim, Martinez said.

The conflict originated when police responded to a call involving Marshall and his step-grandson. Marshall fired a shot in the direction of the child when the boy turned his back to leave, investigators said.

The boy--described by neighbors as a teenager--said the shot passed just over his shoulder, investigators said. The youth ran to a neighbor’s house and called police.

Marshall barricaded himself in his home when the deputies arrived. The initial gunfight between deputies and Marshall occurred as the officers set up a containment area, a normal procedure when police respond to a dangerous situation, Deputy Boris Nicolof said.

Marshall fired several shots from an upstairs window, and deputies returned fire, Martinez said.

Later, Marshall, who appeared to have either a shotgun or a rifle, fired three more times from a window as deputies were trying to evacuate neighbors. A special weapons team and crisis negotiators were called in an attempt to end the standoff.

According to witnesses, deputies and Marshall exchanged shots at least three times. Between the outbreaks of gunfire, deputies and negotiators tried to calm Marshall, a neighbor said.

Viesta Lewis, 78, said she was afraid to come out of her house after hearing the initial gunshots about 9 a.m.

Lewis described the middle-class neighborhood as quiet, “where the only noise you usually hear is from children playing in the streets.”

“It’s very quiet,” she said. “I don’t know what happened today.”