Gunman in Siege Killed Himself, Authorities Say

The man who wounded two officers and held a SWAT team at bay outside a Marina del Rey apartment complex died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a coroner’s spokesman said Tuesday.

The end of the dramatic standoff came about 11 p.m. Monday after police blew the door off a fifth-floor unit in the Marina Pointe Apartments near Lincoln Boulevard and Maxella Avenue and found the body of Joseph Macio Allain, 20, of Memphis.

About 11 a.m., Allain fired through his door at a federal marshal who had come to arrest him for a parole violation stemming from drug charges. Allain wounded an LAPD officer who responded to the first shooting, police said.

Authorities said Allain’s apartment had hidden cameras that allowed him to see the marshals approaching.

“He knew exactly where our people were,” said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal William Woolsey. “So he knew exactly where to shoot. He just shot through the door.”

Allain, a gang member, also was wanted in connection with a killing in Hawthorne, Det. James McInerny of the Hawthorne Police Department said.

“We were looking for him for a drive-by murder that occurred here last August,” McInerny said. “We have pretty good information that he was the shooter.’

Helmeted SWAT officers sealed off the area around Allain’s apartment, evacuating residents to a temporary shelter. The standoff tied up traffic in the marina for hours as police tried to persuade Allain to surrender.

“Apparently he was shooting some rounds while talking to the SWAT negotiators,” said Sgt. John Pasquariello, LAPD spokesman. “The officers weren’t in a position where they were in harm’s way. He was firing through the door or walls.”

The shooting stopped after police lobbed tear gas into the apartment, Pasquariello said.

“We didn’t hear from him after that,” he said. “We had some intelligences that he might be armed with a hand grenade, and there was also some speculation that the apartment might have been booby-trapped.” It was not, and Allain did not have a grenade, authorities said Tuesday.

Woolsey said Allain apparently shot himself, firing at least one round from an AK-47 semiautomatic weapon.

“That’s what it appears from the observation of the body,” he said.

Scott Carrier, a spokesman for Los Angeles County coroner, said that Allain, who was pronounced dead by paramedics about 11:45 p.m., had not been examined, but an initial investigation indicated that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Officers said Allain was arrested Oct. 30 and charged with possession of two kilograms of cocaine as a result of an indictment handed down Oct. 18 in connection with a drug case in Tennessee. On Nov. 7, he was released on $50,000 bail, on the condition that he wear an electronic bracelet so officers could monitor his whereabouts.

Marshals went to his Marina Pointe apartment to arrest him after he violated the terms of his bail by removing the bracelet last weekend, officials said.

The deputy marshal shot in the arm, 31-year-old Larry Gloth, was in good condition Tuesday at a hospital. Woolsey said he was expected to be released as early as today but certainly in time for Thanksgiving.

LAPD Senior Lead Officer Gerry Smedley, 44, who was shot in the calf, was treated at a hospital and released.

At the Pacific Division station, some officers said the shooting left them with an eerie feeling because it came nearly two years after fellow Officer Brian Brown, 27, was shot and killed by a gang member.

Capt. Bill Williams, who received the word Monday that officers were down, said: “They are two of the worst words you ever want to hear.”

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Times staff writer Josh Meyer contributed to this story.