Man sought in Escondido police shooting found dead in suspected suicide

ESCONDIDO — A 27-year-old man who Escondido police said shot an officer early Monday morning was found dead hours later of an apparent suicide.

Police officials said the man was found in a vacant apartment on West Lincoln Avenue near North Quince Street around 7:45 a.m. — nearly five hours after an Escondido police officer was shot.

As tactical officers headed to the apartment — acting on information that the gunman had been seen there — they heard a gunshot. They found Anastasio Rosas Jr. inside, suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“Investigators believe that Rosas was the only suspect being sought, and there is no further danger to the public,” the Escondido Police Department said in a statement.

The incident began shortly after 2:45 a.m. when officers were called to a home on Morning View Drive near West El Norte Parkway by someone reporting a domestic violence disturbance. When officers arrived, they were told the man involved in the incident had left his home and taken his weapon with him.

A short time later, officers contacted a man driving in a car near Reidy Creek, south of Lincoln Avenue. It was then that the officer was shot.

The officer was rushed to the hospital and was reported to be in stable condition.

A countywide call for mutual aid was broadcast over police radios, prompting a huge law enforcement response from agencies in the region. A San Diego County sheriff’s helicopter aided in the search from the air as officers blocked off streets and hunted for the gunman.

Officers dressed in SWAT gear searched for the gunman for several hours before they were told he was seen in the vacant apartment.

Law enforcement officers from around San Diego County responded to Escondido to help look for a gunman after an officer was shot early Monday.

(OnScene TV)