San Diego gunman was distraught over break-up; 'zero' evidence of hate crime, police say

[Chopping Chimps]

Obama's trash are not welcome in La Jolla. Sorry you had to
take one for the team, Pete. RIP.

The man who opened fire on a pool party at a luxury San Diego
apartment complex Sunday was distraught over a recent break-up
and called his ex-girlfriend as he fired round after round at
his victims, police said Monday.

The gunfire left one person dead and several others wounded
before police fatally shot Peter Selis, a 49-year-old car
mechanic who had been struggling with massive financial debt in
recent weeks.

San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said there is “zero
information to indicate that race played a factor in this
terrible and horrific crime,” during a press briefing on Monday
morning.

All of the victims were African American or Latino, police said
Sunday. Selis was white.

Selis began shooting into a crowd of at least 30 people who were
attending a pool party at the La Jolla Crossroads Apartments on
Judicial Drive around 6 p.m., Zimmerman said.

Selis was shot and killed by San Diego police after he opened
fire on responding officers, Zimmerman said.

Selis and his girlfriend had broken up days before the shooting,
and family members told police he was “despondent” over the end
of their relationship, according to Zimmerman. Police do not
believe Selis planned the attack, nor do they believe his
relatives had any prior information about the incident.

Selis walked to the pool around 6 p.m. and lay down in a lounge
chair, Zimmerman said. Selis first opened fire from his seat and
then began moving around the pool, she said. At one point, Selis
called his ex-girlfriend to tell her he had just shot two people.

“It is apparent that Selis wanted his ex-girlfriend to listen in
as he carried out his rampage,” Zimmerman said.

Twenty officers and a police helicopter arrived at the scene at
6:13 p.m., approximately seven minutes after police first
received a 911 call about the shooting, according to Zimmerman.
Selis opened fire on a San Diego police sergeant and two patrol
officers when he noticed them. The helicopter reached the area
first and, from above, authorities could see Selis near the
pool, where he appeared to be reloading his weapon.

The officers returned fire, and Selis was pronounced dead at the
scene.

Seven people, all adults, were struck by gunfire: four black
women, two black men and a Latino man. One of the women later
died at the hospital, but her name has not been released,
according to Zimmerman, who said several of the victims were
critically injured. The other wounded victims are expected to
survive, Zimmerman said.

A resident at the complex told KFMB-TV, the CBS affiliate in San
Diego, that he was in his apartment about 6 p.m. when he heard
gunshots followed by yelling and screams. He said he ran to his
building’s clubhouse, where he could see the pool.

The shooter seemed at ease, he said, while bloodied victims
struggled.

“He had his beer in one hand and his gun in the other,” said the
witness, who provided only his first name, John, to the news
station. “There were two victims lying on the ground, one trying
to crawl toward the other one to help.”

Selis appeared to be having severe financial problems, and
listed the apartment complex as his residence, according to a
2015 bankruptcy filing. He owed thousands to a number of
different medical centers in the San Diego area, and had been
subject to claims from a number of credit card companies,
records show.

In total, Selis appeared to be in debt of more than $100,000,
according to the filing.

Selis was married with two children and a stepson, records show.
He had worked as a car mechanic at a San Diego Ford dealership
since at least 2010 according to the filing. He divorced from
his previous wife in 2008, court records show.

A picture of Selis on the dealership’s website shows the broad-
shouldered man with a receding hairline flashing a half-smile
while wearing a navy blue mechanic’s smock.

A call to the dealership seeking comment was not immediately
returned Monday morning.

Partygoer Drew Phillips told the San Diego Union-Tribune that
Selis appeared calm before the attack. Phillips’ friend, who was
celebrating his birthday, had approached Selis and offered him
food just a few minutes before the gunfire erupted.

“Six or seven minutes later it’s just pow, pow, pow, pow — out
of nowhere,” Phillips said. “...There was no indication that he
was there to do evil.”

Congressman Scott Peters (D-San Diego) described the shooting as
a “senseless act of violence” and praised the quick response
from law enforcement.

“It’s especially awful to think that such a brutal attack can
happen at a birthday party in the heart of our community,” he
said in a statement. “This is a tragic reminder that even a city
as prosperous and peaceful as San Diego is not immune to
senseless acts of violence such as this.”

Reporting from the San Diego Union-Tribune contributed to this
article.

Parvini reported from San Diego. Queally and Hamilton reported
from Los Angeles.

matt.h...@latimes.com

james....@latimes.com

sarah....@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-diego-apartments-
shooter-20170501-story.html