Man and 5-year-old dead in suspected murder-suicide in Long Beach

A man and a 5-year-old child were found dead in a suspected murder-suicide in a Long Beach home after police spent hours outside the residence trying to make contact with the occupants.

Long Beach police said they responded to a “domestic dispute” call at a house in the 3400 block of Adriatic Avenue on Thursday around 2:40 p.m. When they arrived at the scene, the house was on fire, according to a post from the department on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Firefighters responded and extinguished the flames, but police believed the suspect in the domestic disturbance incident might be inside the home, authorities said.

A SWAT team responded to the scene, establishing a perimeter around the house and warning neighbors to either evacuate or shelter in place, police said.

SWAT negotiators then attempted to contact the person in the home. Although it is not clear how long the SWAT team was outside the home, police obtained a search warrant and entered the home about 12:15 a.m. Friday. Inside, they found a man dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and a 5-year-old child who was also dead, authorities said.

“Homicide detectives are on scene and are investigating this as a murder-suicide,” Long Beach Police Department said in a statement.

The investigation is ongoing.