Two dead at Tustin apartment after officer shoots knife-wielding man

A woman was found dead and a man was fatally shot by police at the Briarwood Apartments in Tustin, California, following a welfare check.

Officer shoots knife-wielding man at Tustin apartment; woman found dead inside

Google News MT — Crime (en) reports that two people are dead following a police response to a welfare check at the Briarwood Apartments on Walnut Avenue in Tustin, California, on Monday afternoon.

Officers were dispatched shortly after 2:30 p.m. to what the Tustin Police Department initially described as "a domestic incident that was updated to a possible homicide." Upon arrival, they encountered a man and subsequently found a woman lying on the floor inside the residence.

"The male subject advanced on the officers with the knife and an officer-involved shooting occurred," the police department said in a news release. Officers immediately attempted life-saving measures, but the man died from his injuries at the scene. Investigators said the woman had already been dead for some time before police arrived.

Neighbour Breana Perez described the incident as "a domestic incident between a husband and wife." "The wife was unfortunately murdered," she said.

Residents reported a heavy police presence and the sound of gunfire. Matthew Padilla, who lives at the complex, described officers entering urgently. "They kind of stormed in from this entrance here... they kind of ran up to the apartment door, and they breached the door," he said.

Another resident, Lindsay Bebout, said she initially mistook the shots for fireworks. "I did hear the shots. I was working upstairs, and it was one of those where I thought, 'Oh, that must've been fireworks or something,' and then I heard the sirens," she said. "Then five minutes later, I walk outside, and I see everybody."

Several neighbours said police had been called to the couple's apartment on previous occasions, and that the two were often heard arguing. "Something like that is so close to you, you really don't think that anything like that will happen, until unfortunately, it does," neighbour Bretney Lugo said.

Police did not immediately confirm the exact relationship between the two individuals. A major crime scene investigation was still underway Monday night as authorities worked to establish the full circumstances of both deaths.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office responded to the scene and launched an independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)