Family Dispute Led To Huntington Beach Shooting That Killed Home Inspector, Wounded 3, Including Suspect
HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA) — More details are emerging regarding a shooting Saturday morning in Huntington Beach that claimed the life of a home inspector and left three others, including the suspect, wounded.
Authorities said the man killed was caught in the middle of a family dispute, between a brother and sister, over a home that belonged to their now deceased father.
Huntington Beach police said the victim and two other real-estate professionals came with a family member to look at the home on the 4500 block of Operetta Drive Saturday. Not long after, at about 10:50 a.m., gunfire erupted and all three were shot.
The Huntington Beach SWAT team was dispatched to the scene, a perimeter was established and snipers could be seen on neighboring rooftops. Residents in the immediate area were temporarily evacuated.
Police said that as they were attempting to evacuate the three victims, a man believed to be the shooter exited the home with a superficial gunshot wound.
All four wounded adults were taken to hospitals for treatment. One man died, one victim was treated and released, and the other victim and the suspect remained hospitalized, Huntington Beach Police Capt. Tim Martin said Sunday. They are expected to make a full recovery.
"That's terrible that someone was just going to do the job and some dispute has caused so much tragedy," neighbor Jack Cunningham told CBSLA Sunday.
"We used to hang out all the time," said Jay Coffman, who lives nearby and grew up with the suspect. "He was a great guy. I never would picture him doing that. I didn't even know he had a gun."
According to Coffman, the suspect has lived in the home for decades and had recently been in a dispute with his sister over the sale of the home, owned by the sibling's father who died some five years ago.
"He stayed there at the house and took care of him, did everything for him, took him everywhere," Coffman said of how the suspect took care of his father.
Neighbors say the father did not have a will.
"I know they were having a dispute over the house, between him and his sister," Coffman said.
CBSLA attempted to reach out to the sister, but was unable to make contact.
So far, no names have been released.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
