Bodycam video shows fatal SWAT shooting of ex-con in Santee

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Santee, CA - Authorities Monday released video footage of the fatal shooting by deputies of an apparently suicidal ex-convict who allegedly opened fire on them at the end of a standoff in a neighborhood near Carlton Oaks Country Club.

The events that led to the deadly law enforcement gunfire began shortly before noon on July 27, when a man made a 911 call to report that his brother-in-law had pulled a gun on him and the caller’s wife and threatened to kill them and commit suicide at the couple’s home in the 9000 block of Willowgrove Avenue in Santee, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.

When deputies arrived, the alleged victims, who had fled the home, told them that the suspect, 55-year-old Michael Lee Redding, had also left and might have gone to his ex-girlfriend’s residence across the street, the agency reported.

Sheriff’s personnel, including a SWAT team, then took up positions on the street and eventually reached Redding by phone. Despite their repeated orders to disarm himself and surrender, the suspect remained holed up inside his ex-girlfriend’s house throughout the afternoon.

Amid the protracted communications with deputies, Redding, who lived with his sister and brother-in-law, texted relatives and friends, telling them he was not going to go back to prison and threatening to burn down the home he was hiding in, according to sheriff’s officials. He also sent a message intended to serve as his last will and testament.

Eventually, as the stalemate stretched through the late afternoon, a gunshot sounded from inside the house. Concerned that Redding had shot himself, sheriff’s personnel breached the front door and sent a camera-equipped robot to the threshold to peer inside and establish a video feed of the interior of the home.

At about 6 p.m., deputies decided to send tear gas-dispensing projectiles into the residence in a bid to force the suspect to give himself up.

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Roughly five minutes later, as clouds of gray chemical smoke poured out of the house and an airborne drone captured video images of the scene, the suspect ran outside and allegedly fired his 9mm pistol in the direction of the gathered law enforcement personnel.

Three members of the special weapons and tactics team, Deputies Kevin McCauley, Parker Robbins and Luke Vories, returned fire, mortally wounding the suspect. Redding died at the scene.

Two of the rounds that Redding had discharged struck an armored police vehicle parked in front of the residence, causing no injuries, sheriff’s officials said.