post #1
21 October 2006, 00:05 UTC#1
http://www.fresnobeehive.com/2006/911call.mp3
A 25-year-old Fresno man, distraught over work problems, shot two officers and holed up in his northwest Fresno town house, where he fatally shot himself late Thursday morning during a seven-hour police standoff.
Police found James George Lunsford dead about 11:15 a.m. in an upstairs bathroom closet inside his condo at San Jose Villas, near Shaw and Brawley avenues. He had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and a handgun was found nearby, Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said Thursday afternoon.
Police described Lunsford as a suicidal man with a history of drug and alcohol abuse who lured officers to his town house with an early-morning 911 call for help, and opened fire from his second-floor balcony once they reached his front door.
"This was an absolute ambush against two Fresno police officers," Dyer said.
Bullets pierced the walls of neighbors who hid in closets and back rooms as Lunsford fired dozens of shots from his town house. In a series of bizarre phone calls to police, he spoke to a dispatcher as he reloaded his weapon and continued popping off rounds, ignoring pleas to stop firing. Lunsford also ranted about a suicidal boyfriend who apparently doesn't exist, and later ignited a fire that set off sprinklers, flooding his home with several feet of water.
Both officers are expected to survive.
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//Discuss
A 25-year-old Fresno man, distraught over work problems, shot two officers and holed up in his northwest Fresno town house, where he fatally shot himself late Thursday morning during a seven-hour police standoff.
Police found James George Lunsford dead about 11:15 a.m. in an upstairs bathroom closet inside his condo at San Jose Villas, near Shaw and Brawley avenues. He had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and a handgun was found nearby, Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said Thursday afternoon.
Police described Lunsford as a suicidal man with a history of drug and alcohol abuse who lured officers to his town house with an early-morning 911 call for help, and opened fire from his second-floor balcony once they reached his front door.
"This was an absolute ambush against two Fresno police officers," Dyer said.
Bullets pierced the walls of neighbors who hid in closets and back rooms as Lunsford fired dozens of shots from his town house. In a series of bizarre phone calls to police, he spoke to a dispatcher as he reloaded his weapon and continued popping off rounds, ignoring pleas to stop firing. Lunsford also ranted about a suicidal boyfriend who apparently doesn't exist, and later ignited a fire that set off sprinklers, flooding his home with several feet of water.
Both officers are expected to survive.
<<Snipped>>
//Discuss
