Man, 70, Kills Son, Shoots Himself

A man known by neighbors as a bully who picked fights and bullied his parents was shot and killed early Friday by his 70-year-old father, who then apparently turned the gun on himself, Costa Mesa police said.

David Bradley Hansen, an unemployed 43-year-old who lived at home, died of gunshots to the head fired by Norman Bernard Hansen about 7 a.m., said Lt. John E. FitzPatrick.

Police said they did not know what prompted the incident.

The victim’s mother, Mary, was in the backyard of the family’s Cheyenne Street home drinking coffee when she heard popping sounds from inside, police said.

She went in to investigate and saw her husband, who told her “not to worry,” she told police. She went back outside but heard another popping noise.

Inside the home she found her husband on the floor bleeding from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head, FitzPatrick said. She later discovered her son’s body at the end of the hallway.

Norman Hansen was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana where he was in critical condition, police said.

The shooting didn’t surprise neighbors in the quiet Mesa North area of Costa Mesa. They described David Hansen as a troublemaker, who quarreled with neighbors and bullied his parents.

In interviews, police said they found numerous neighbors who had strong feelings about David Hansen. “Hardly anyone liked him,” FitzPatrick said.

Jim Ingram, who lives across the street, said he had numerous run-ins with David Hansen, including a fight between Hansen and one of Ingram’s friends when Hansen disrupted a Super Bowl party.

“You know, in another week, the neighbors are probably going to throw a block party,” Ingram said. “I know that sounds bad, but it’s the way we feel.”

David Hansen was a construction worker but had been out of work, neighbors said. They complained that he had a habit of accumulating discarded wood and then burning it in a bonfire in the yard, infuriating neighbors because of the smoke and fear that embers would drift onto the shake roofs in the neighborhood.

On at least two occasions, Hansen fought with his elderly father, a retired bulk oil salesman, pinning him to the ground and putting his hands around the father’s neck, Ingram said.