He Sat Quietly by the Pool. Then He Opened Fire

California gunman shoots 7 in San Diego before being killed by police
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 1, 2017 4:11 AM CDT
Gunman Dead After 7 Shot at Calif. Pool Party
San Diego police officers work at a cordoned off La Jolla apartment after a shooting Sunday, April 30, 2017, in San Diego. Police shot and killed a 49-year-old man suspected of shooting seven people Sunday at a birthday pool party in an apartment complex near the University of California, San Diego,...   (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A man who shot at least seven people at a pool party in San Diego on Sunday evening opened fire so suddenly that he didn't even put his beer down, witnesses say. A suspect identified as 49-year-old Pete Selis—or Solis, in some reports—was shot dead by police responding to reports of a man shooting people by the pool at the La Jolla Crossroads apartment complex, the AP reports. Police say three officers shot Selis after he pointed a handgun at them. At least seven people, including a woman who later died in the hospital, received gunshot wounds and a man broke his arm while fleeing. Some of the victims are still in critical condition. Police say Selis and at least one of the victims lived in the apartment complex.

Partygoer Drew Phillips tells the San Diego Union-Tribune that minutes before the shooting, Selis, sitting quietly in a poolside chair, declined his offer of food and drink. Another witness says she heard Selis threaten to kill women trying to help a victim. It's not clear whether Selis knew anybody at the party, or whether there was a racial motive. The Los Angeles Times reports that Selis was white and out of the seven people shot, six were black and one was Hispanic. "This is truly a horrific act of violence that took place here today," San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. "Our entire city, all of our thoughts and prayers, all San Diegans' thoughts and prayers, are with the victims and their families tonight." (More San Diego stories.)

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