Off-Duty L.A. Officer Kills Man, Then Self

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer fatally shot his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in front of the man’s Simi Valley home Saturday afternoon and then took his own life, authorities said.

Geno Patrick Colello, a 35-year-old Rampart Division officer who also lives in Simi Valley, and Keith Thomas Ewing, a 34-year-old computer technician, died at the scene, authorities said.

“I heard something that sounded like fireworks, like five, six or seven bangs, and then I saw my neighbor dead in his driveway and another man dead in a truck,” said Jeff Thompson, who lives across the street.

Colello, a seven-year LAPD veteran, had been angry that his former girlfriend was dating Ewing, said Simi Valley Police Sgt. Bob Gardner.

Police were called to the neighborhood near Rancho Simi Community Park about 3 p.m. after several residents called 911 and reported hearing shots in the 1800 block of Sutter Avenue, Gardner said.

Witnesses said Colello pulled in front of Ewing’s house in a white pickup truck, fired at least five shots at Ewing, who was outside washing his own pickup truck, and then turned the gun on himself.

When officers arrived, they found Ewing face-down in the driveway and a trail of blood flowing to the street.

Colello was slumped in the front seat of his truck parked on the street. Unable to tell if Colello was dead, officers with hand-held bullet-proof shields slowly stepped toward his truck, authorities said.

Half a dozen residents were evacuated from their homes and an ambulance was ordered to wait a block away until officers secured the scene.

Inside the truck, authorities found Colello dead from a gunshot wound to the head and a large caliber semiautomatic pistol at his side, Gardner said.

Authorities said Colello had lived with his ex-girlfriend, Diane Williams, for about four years before she left him and moved into her own home.

Williams had been dating Ewing for several months, neighbors said. She was not at the scene when the shooting occurred, police said.

About two hours after the shootings, Williams arrived at the scene and broke down when officers told her what had occurred. She was consoled by a chaplain before leaving the area.

Colello’s uncle, Robert Bruntonof Simi Valley, said his nephew was an outgoing and well-liked man and that family members, including Colello’s father, a retired LAPD officer, were devastated by the news.

Aaron Rice, a Sutter Avenue resident, said he and a roommate were returning home from shopping shortly before 3 p.m. when they saw Ewing washing his truck in his driveway. Inside his house for only a few minutes, Rice immediately dropped to the kitchen floor after hearing several shots.

“I knew what that sound was because I’m from Los Angeles and I’ve heard it before,” he said. “It’s so weird, I just spoke to the dude, and I was probably the last person to talk to him.”

One of the first people to arrive on the scene was a neighbor who had been preparing for his wedding ceremony later that evening at a nearby house.

Several wedding guests were interviewed by police. Other neighbors stood on their front lawns and watched investigators scour the scene. Two black dogs belonging to Ewing also wandered around.

“Nothing like this ever happens here,” said Sandy Norton, who was in the neighborhood visiting her sister. “Simi Valley is such a safe city and that’s the first thing that came to mind when I heard about this.”