Man Killed in Shootout With Deputies at His Home

A 37-year-old Santa Clarita man who allegedly fired an assault weapon at sheriff’s deputies was shot and killed early Saturday on the cul-de-sac where he grew up, authorities said.

Just after 1:30 a.m., two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies and a sergeant, responding to a vandalism call in the neighborhood, were confronted by Mark Gault, who was outside his parents’ house in the 29300 block of Snapdragon Place, with an SKS assault rifle, sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Cruz Solis said.

After deputies ordered Gault to drop the rifle, he pointed it at them and shot several rounds, Solis said. All three deputies fired back, hitting Gault in the upper torso, Solis said. The wounded man ran inside his parents’ house.

Believing Gault had barricaded himself in, the deputies called for a SWAT team, which arrived shortly before 6 a.m.

When the specialists entered the house, they found Gault dead, apparently as a result of the deputies’ gunfire, Solis said.

A large stash of weapons, including handguns and other assault weapons, was found in the house.

Sheriff’s spokesmen on Saturday would not identify the deputies involved. It is unclear if any vandalism actually took place.

Longtime residents of the Canyon Country neighborhood described Gault as a polite kid, but a sometimes troubled man who never seemed to completely grow up.

They said his occasional indiscretions--incidents with firecrackers and loud, late-night beer drinking in his parents’ driveway--didn’t lead them to expect this kind of trouble.

“He’s always been respectful,” neighbor Joe Keely said.

Another neighbor, Jeffrey Pyne, said he was talking on his cell phone in his yard about 9:30 p.m. Saturday when Gault approached him, distraught and incoherent.

“I couldn’t understand him. He was clearly drunk and talking about family problems . . . [and] he said something about his mom,” Pyne said. “He seemed very nervous, so I told him to walk it off.”

Gault’s mother is terminally ill, neighbors said, and he had been living at the family home, helping his father, John Gault, around the house.

The incident is an aberration for the generally quiet city of Santa Clarita. It is the only officer-involved shooting so far this year in the sheriff’s Santa Clarita division, Lt. Larry Gump said.

The Sheriff’s Department’s homicide bureau is investigating the shooting.

*

Times staff writer Sue Fox contributed to this story.