Chula Vista police this morning identified the victim in a Thursday morning shooting that led to an hours-long stand off with police and culminated with the death of the gunman.
Police identified Nicholas Reynolds, 43, as the man gunned down in the Mission Gardens Apartment complex by his neighbor Michael Eugene Majerus, 42.
Majerus died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.
At about 7:40 a.m. police responded to reports of gunfire at the apartment complex on E Street in Chula Vista. Within minutes of arriving on the scene with guns drawn, police had blocked east and west bound traffic travelling on E Street between First and Second Avenues. By 8:30 a.m. a cadre of SWAT officers had arrived and a police helicopter was circling overhead advising complex residents to stay indoors and away from windows.
Police said that Majerus and Reynolds had a long-standing dispute over neighborhood issues. Armed with his AR-15 rifle, Majerus had approached Reynolds as he was getting into his car and fired 19 times, police said. Majerus then sought refuge in his apartment, where he locked himself in with his wife Laura and two children.
Throughout the day police negotiators were in contact with Majerus and were hoping to resolve the standoff peacefully.
At about 10:30 a.m. the Reynold’s family had emerged from their apartment and were taken to the police command post for medical evaluation.
Forty-one adults and 15 children had been evacuated from the complex with about 13 people going to the Norman Park Senior Center on F Street where the Red Cross has set up an aide station.
At 3:35 p.m., Majerus wife and the children emerged from Mission Gardens but the gunman remained in his apartment, where he later shot himself.
Investigators believe there was no argument just prior to the shooting.
Police had been called on two prior occasions regarding the dispute but in both instances they determined that there was no crime and no police report was taken. Majerus had no significant criminal history.
