IRS Agent Dies From Gunshot

An Internal Revenue Service agent died Wednesday after suffering a gunshot to the head while on the eighth floor of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana, officials said.

Police said they were investigating the shooting as a suicide or accident. IRS officials declined to comment or to identify the agent, citing the investigation.

Santa Ana Police Sgt. Raul Luna said witnesses saw the agent enter a supply and copying room, measuring roughly 20 by 25 feet, about 11 a.m. The automatic door closed behind the agent, and moments later they heard a gunshot, he said.

“There is no reason to believe that another person was involved,” Luna said. “He was alone in the room.”

Luna said the agent suffered a “traumatic head wound” and was rushed by paramedics to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he died. Police recovered a handgun at the scene, although they said they could not immediately determine to whom it belonged. Luna said that as a law enforcement officer, the agent would have been allowed to carry a service weapon into the building.

An autopsy scheduled for this morning will help investigators determine whether the shooting was a suicide or accidental, Luna said.

A federal official who knew the IRS worker described him as “an impeccable and outstanding agent” who worked money-laundering cases. The official, who did not want to be identified, said the man leaves behind a wife and two children, ages 4 and 6.

“We were surprised and devastated by the news. It hit us all like a ton of bricks. We’re wondering what went wrong,” the official said.

The eighth floor of the federal building houses the U.S. attorney’s office and a special grand jury suite. Luna said the agent was there working with federal prosecutors on a case he described as “routine official business.”

“There was absolutely no indication from anybody who was there that there was anything out of the ordinary, or any cause for concern or any emotional instability,” Luna said. “Absolutely nothing.”

Alejandro Mayorkas, the U.S. attorney for California’s Central District, was in the building at the time of the shooting, which he described as “tragic.” He declined to comment further.

After the shooting, police investigators searching the eighth floor came across what they thought was a suspicious package. They evacuated several offices and called in the bomb squad, which determined the package was the dead agent’s lunch.

People inside the building said they heard a loud noise when the gun went off. Keri Rogers, 29, of Orange was on the 10th floor attending a hearing when the floor shook.

“I thought it was an earthquake,” Rogers said. “I didn’t hear a shot. This was like a loud boom. In fact, I heard two booms, like boom-boom.”

She said the judge at the sentencing did not postpone the hearing, nor were spectators asked to evacuate the courtroom. The proceedings paused for a short time, then resumed, she said.

The $123-million Reagan building, featuring high-level security screening, opened just over a year ago to try to consolidate federal offices in one building while increasing federal court space.

Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this report.