RESIDENT INFORMATION
(provided by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department):
Those who did not evacuate are strongly advised not to leave their home. Residents will be notified by phone as soon as the situation is resolved and when it is safe to go outside.
There are checkpoints set up at the following locations:
Grandview and Lawler
Grandview at Angel's Point
Grandview and Resmar
Grandview at Gabriel
Residents can't drive beyond these checkpoints. If you choose to leave your home inside the one-mile area of the incident scene, you will not be allowed back in.
If you are sheltering in place and have an emergency, call 911. For other questions, call the Sheriff's non-emergency line at (858) 565-5200.
Latest story:
LA MESA (CBS 8) - A day-long SWAT standoff in a La Mesa neighborhood continued late into Monday night.
Starting the morning neighbors heard gunshots, shots that were coming from a man who barricaded himself inside his house in the 9900 block of Grandview Drive in unincorporated La Mesa. At one point, 200 shots were fired for about an hour and a half.
"I didn't know if shots would come toward us...so very scary. And the fact we heard so many," said Stephanie Kewley.
Kewley was just one of several residents who had to be evacuated in an armored vehicle after a domestic violence call turned into a SWAT standoff.
"They gave us time to put our shoes on...that's about it," Kewley added.
It all started just after 10 a.m. Monday. A woman at the home called 911, saying her fiancé had been drinking and that he threatened to hurt her and himself.
While deputies were talking to the woman, the man reportedly yelled, 'I'm going to kill all of you!' And then shots were fired inside the Mount Helix house.
The deputies ran for cover as did the woman and three teenagers inside.
Several agencies arrived for back up and quickly set up a perimeter.
But the 47-year-old suspect, who investigators say is armed with a rifle, a shotgun and two handguns, continued to shoot.
Deputies didn't return fire, but they tried just about everything else: phone calls, a bull horn, they even shot a chemical agent into the house. So far, nothing has worked.
"I opened the window and he said you might wanna evacuate your house. He said we have a sniper set up on your pool house," said Andrew Kewley.
"I'm a nervous wreck in a way," said Meg Travis.
Travis couldn't begin to explain the situation to her husband who had just gotten home, telling him it had been going on for hours.
Walt Heiser was one of a handful of people forced to evactate.
"At first we thought they were fire crackers because there were so many of them, but there were quite a few and they continued pretty much off and on throughout the morning," explained Heiser.
Things may have quieted down by the afternoon, but it was just as tense.
"It's usually a very quiet neighborhood, and I feel bad for all the police that have to work on Labor Day," added Travis.
As of this report, authorities haven't released the name of the suspect.