Gunman Dead, 3 Held After O.C. Manhunt

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Authorities believe that four heavily armed men were planning a robbery when they were interrupted by a police officer, triggering a fierce gun battle, the suicide of one gunman and the wounding of a resident of the Huntington Beach neighborhood into which several suspects fled.

Police believe that three of the gunmen threatened, shot and terrorized residents of the neighborhood as a massive police search closed in.

Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Franklin escaped with minor injuries after the suspects fired as many as 100 bullets at him late Saturday in a parking lot near Bolsa Chica State Beach. Franklin was about to make a routine check of the gunmen’s parked car when they opened fire with two automatic assault rifles and three semiautomatic handguns, authorities said.

“We suspect the four men were possibly planning to commit a robbery,” Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Olson said.

The suspects fled before abandoning the car about one mile west of the lot. More than 40 officers responded in a massive search of the area, which quickly centered on a condominium complex in Huntington Beach.

Olson said one of the suspects shot himself to death in a carport in the condominiums as the search proceeded. Authorities declined to identify the man, reveal what led them to conclude the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, or say whether there were any witnesses to the death.

Swat teams and two helicopters--one using a heat-seeking device--helped locate one suspect in the condominiums and another at a nearby sushi restaurant on Warner Avenue. The final suspect was arrested at his Garden Grove home Sunday morning without incident, Olson said.

The shootout began at 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of an ecological reserve across the street from a Bolsa Chica State Beach entrance, Olson said.

“As he was pulling in to check out the parked car he was met by gunfire,” Olson said. “There were possibly over 100 shots fired at the deputy by the suspects.”

Olson said the deputy escaped by crouching behind the door of his car.

The deputy returned fire with his 9-millimeter handgun. He was wounded by shattered glass from his patrol car, Olson said. Franklin, an 18-month veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was treated and released at a local hospital.

Fifty yards away on Pacific Coast Highway, a passing car was hit by stray bullets, but no one was injured, according to Lt. Luis Ochoa of the Huntington Beach police.

An off-duty Long Beach police officer was the first to reach the wounded deputy, who was slumped over the hood of his car.

The suspects drove about a mile west on Pacific Coast Highway, then abandoned their car and fled on foot.

One man attempted to evade police by hiding out in the women’s restroom of a sushi restaurant on Warner Avenue, according to witness Sean Collins.

“A real sharp woman told police that there was a man in the restaurant who seemed to be hiding,” Collins said. “A female police officer came in, arrested him and took him outside with his hands in a paper bag.”

Collins said the man had entered the eatery and asked for water.

“He left his black L.A. Kings hat,” Collins said as he pointed to a television where the hat was perched.

Police said three of the gunmen ran to a condominium complex where they attacked and terrorized residents while attempting to evade pursuing officers.

Paul St. John, a resident of the Harbor Pacific Condominiums, said he was in a spa with friends when he heard shots fired.

“They were definitely automatic weapons. You could hear the noise, and it was definitely automatics,” St. John said.

Roland Britton, 45, walked out of his condo in the complex and came across a man with a rifle. When he turned and ran, he was shot twice.

Britton “hid out in some bushes until police discovered him,” Ochoa said. Britton is listed in stable condition at a Long Beach hospital with gunshot wounds to his thigh and buttocks.

Another man, David Malafronte, 31, of Van Nuys, was walking from his car with complex resident Ellen Ostazewski in the carport area when a man with a rifle stopped them.

“He began yelling at us to throw him the keys,” Ostazewski said. “He was just staring us down with a shotgun in his hand.”

The couple fled and escaped injury. Police believe that this was the gunman who eventually killed himself.

Ruth Langston, who lives in the condo complex, said two helicopters circled continuously around the complex urging residents through a loudspeaker to remain in their homes.

“I was out here (behind a barricade) until around 2 a.m., and it was frightening,” said Langston, who was forced to rent a hotel room.

A search by a Huntington Beach helicopter equipped with a heat detector turned up one of the suspects hiding on the porch of a vacant condo.

“After he was detected by the helicopter crew, officers found the 17-year-old hiding with an automatic weapon nearby,” Ochoa said. The youth surrendered without incident.

Around 9:50 a.m police found Keith Gonzalez, 19, at his home in Garden Grove and arrested him without incident, Ochoa said.

Both Gonzalez and Travis Claude, 19, are currently in Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder. Bail is set at $250,000.

The 17-year-old was placed in the Orange County juvenile facility, Ochoa said.

Chris Gourlay, a forensic specialist for the Sheriff’s Department, said Deputy Franklin was very lucky to escape with his life after being the target of that much firepower.

“They were firing everything at him, he must have been paying attention during his training because that is what saved him,” Gourlay said. “That and a little luck.”

Police blocked off Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway to 10th Street.

Night of Terror

Dozens of law enforcement officers searched a Huntington Beach neighborhood from Saturday night into Sunday morning, seeking gunmen who fired on a sheriff’s deputy near Bolsa Chica State Beach and later shot and wounded a resident of a condominium complex. Three suspects are arrested; the fourth is found dead.

SATURDAY

1) 8:30 p.m. Saturday: Four gunmen fire approximately 100 rounds at Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Franklin in a parking lot near Bolsa Chica State Beach.

2) 9:15 p.m.: One suspect, found hiding in restaurant after the four flee up Pacific Coast Highway, is arrested.

3) 10:00 p.m.: Gunmen rampage through Harbor Pacific Complex, terrorizing residents. Roland Britton, 45, is shot twice and hospitalized. For the next 6 hours, more than 40 police officers, some deployed in SWAT teams and helicopters, search the condominium neighborhood.

SUNDAY

4) 2:00 a.m. Sunday: A 17-year-old suspect is found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police believe dead youth shot Britton.

5) 4:00 a.m.: A heat-seeking device on a police helicopter locates another 17-year-old suspect, who is arrested without incident.

6) 9:54 a.m.: Keith Gonzalez, 19, the final suspect is arrested at his home in Garden Grove.