Gunman Wounds Deputy, Kills Casino Guard and Then Himself

A robbery suspect shot a sheriff’s deputy outside a Temecula casino and shot two more people -- one fatally -- inside another casino near San Diego before turning his gun on himself, sheriff’s officials said Sunday.

Saturday’s shootings started with the robbery of a GNC store in Temecula. The suspect fled in a late-model Volvo with Texas license plates. A Riverside County sheriff’s deputy stopped the vehicle about 9 p.m. outside the Pechanga Casino in Temecula.

When the deputy approached the Volvo, the driver fired at him, hitting the deputy in the wrist. The gunman then took off driving south.

San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Radicia spotted the Volvo near Harrah’s Rincon Casino in Valley Center, about 27 miles south of Temecula. When Radicia tried to stop the car, the driver pulled into the parking lot, got out and exchanged gunfire with him.

“Numerous shots were fired,” said Lt. Duncan Fraser, a spokesman for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

The gunman then got back in the car, drove to the entrance of the casino and ran inside. A Harrah’s security guard and parking attendant joined the pursuit.

Guard Raymond Ives was wrestling with the suspect when the gunman shot him in the head. Jeremy Tessler, a parking attendant, was shot in the leg, Fraser said.

As the suspect tried to run, Radicia fired again, apparently hitting the man in the leg. “The suspect ran a short distance, placed his gun against his head and shot himself,” Fraser said.

The suspect, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. Ives died Sunday at Palomar Hospital. Tessler was treated and released.

The injured Riverside County deputy, identified only as Deputy Renick, was treated at a hospital. His condition was not immediately available.

No other details of the chase or shooting were released. Calls to Harrah’s casino were referred to the Sheriff’s Department.