UPDATE: Evidence suggests suspect prepared for police confrontation
MODESTO (CBS13) - A body has been recovered from the burned home of a Modesto man suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy and civilian on Thursday morning and then barricading himself inside.
Firefighters put out the fire shortly before 2 a.m. Friday morning. ATF agents arrived later Friday morning to assist with the investigation inside the home, and the body was found shortly before 3 p.m. Investigators wouldn't confirm the body was that of the shooter, whose name hasn't been released, and said it could take weeks to make a positive identification.
Officers began combing through the apartment and the suspect's car. They discovered several weapons, including a high powered assault rifle, ammunition, a gas mask and police-style radios.
The dead body was wearing a ballistic vest, which suggests that the man barricaded himself in the apartment and was preparing for an armed confrontation with police.
Once investigators finished processing the scene, residents returned to adjacent buildings and apartment units. Residents of the three units destroyed by fire are being assisted by the American Red Cross.
A massive regional law enforcement presence, including bomb squads and four SWAT teams, had been in a standoff with the man after he shot and killed Deputy Robert Paris and a civilian locksmith Glendon Engert, 35, on Thursday morning. Paris and another deputy went there with Engert to perform an eviction.
Sheriff Adam Christianson confirmed Paris was fatally shot in the 2100 block of Chrysler Drive just west of Prescott Road and south of West Rumble Road some time around 11 a.m. Thursday
"Deputy Paris paid the ultimate price, sacrificing his life, while protecting and serving the citizens of Stanislaus County," said Christianson. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Bob's family, the community, our sheriff's family and all the law enforcement personnel from every jurisdiction in the central valley who come to our aid today."
Paris is survived by his parents, brother and two adult children. Engert was married but without children.
"This is another dark day for law enforcement. There's no excuse for this," Christianson said. "One of my valued members of my team is dead. I am overwhelmingly frustrated with the fact that we don't have adequate resources to protect the community."
At least two bomb squads and four SWAT teams were brought over concerns that the suspect may have had explosives inside of his Whispering Woods apartment unit and was described as having military training. A neighbor said the suspect showed him several weapons prior to the shooting.
"We don't know anything about him. We don't know a motive," Christianson said.
The suspect was described as Hispanic male, born in 1967, 6 feet, 2 inches, with a military background.
An eyewitness said she heard knocking on the door and then about 10 shots ring out. "At first we just heard knocking, then we heard gun shots and bullets coming out of the door," Keani Hosino said. "It was pretty nuts."
"They were just laying there for the longest time till SWAT came and then they picked them up and dragged them away," she said of the victims. "They were throwing smoke bombs inside, gas bombs. Only like afterwards they let us out because we are right across the street from what happened."
Another neighbor said he sees the suspect walking around the area in military fatigues at night. "I really can't call him scary, but he be dressed in a military uniform and walks around the block, stuff like that," Curtis Dapson said.
Residences in the neighborhood have been evacuated since shortly after the fatal shooting. The nearby Prescott Evangelical Free Church at Prescott and Rumble is being used for displaced residents and the Red Cross is there.
The Prescott Estates neighborhood is almost entirely apartments and duplexes. It was once considered one of the worst neighborhoods in Modesto but had undergone renovations a few years ago. However, there have been at least two shootings on Chrysler earlier this year and a neighbor said it's still a dangerous area.
