The Latest: Race not factor in San Diego pool party shooting
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Latest on a shooting at a San Diego apartment complex (all times local):
11:30 a.m.
San Diego’s police chief says race was not a factor in the shooting of six black people and one Latino man at an apartment pool party, and the gunman was despondent over a recent breakup with his girlfriend.
Chief Shelley Zimmerman said Monday that the shooter, 49-year-old Peter Selis, was speaking with his ex-girlfriend on his cell phone during the rampage because he wanted her to hear the carnage.
Zimmerman says Selis’ family knew he was distraught but said there was no indication he would resort to violence.
One woman was killed as Selis indiscriminately fired into a crowd at the party. Zimmerman said during a morning press conference that all six of those wounded are expected to survive.
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11 a.m.
A witness says a man who shot six black people and one Latino man at a San Diego apartment pool party had caught the attention of guests because he was sitting in a chair wearing a heavy black coat despite the warm weather.
Demetrius Griffin says he was attending his friend’s birthday celebration on Sunday and noticed the man silently watching the gathering for more than a half-hour.
At one point the guest of honor invited the man to join the party. Griffin says the man pulled out a handgun and shot his friend in the torso.
He says the man remained seated as he calmly fired into the crowd of about 40 people, striking six other guests including a woman who later died.
Police fatally shot the suspect, 49-year-old Peter Selis.
Chief Shelley Zimmerman said investigators don’t yet know why Selis, who was white, started shooting.
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