Another Regrettable Fatality

In view of our recent discussions about homicides and suicides relating to the large numbers of guns in private possession, this story struck me as interesting on two counts.  The first was that this was another instance of firearm caused suicide (apparently); but also it was notable for the use by law enforcement of non-lethal rounds to try to resolve this crisis, the 'bean bag' rounds.  The report did not indicate if the firearm used by the elderly man was legally or illegally obtained, but there is nothing in the report to suggest it was not a legal firearm.  This would be another instance where someone who appears to legally possess a firearm presents a danger not only to himself, and his family members, but to the larger community.  I cannot find any 'upside' to this firearm possession that benfited anyone.

I feel badly for the neighbors, the family and the police officers.

Want to take bets this guy was a 2nd Amendment proponent rather than an advocate for gun control?

From MSNBC.com, Crime and Courts:

Death in Garden Grove shooting was officer-involved

A 76-year-old man died in the back yard of his Garden Grove home, police said.

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Members of the Orange County Sheriff Department coroner's transportation team remove a body from a home in the 6000 block of Killarney Avenue, Garden Grove, after a fatal shooting Friday morning.

BRUCE CHAMBERS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

By DENISSE SALAZAR / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

GARDEN GROVE – A 76-year-old man died during an officer-involved shooting in the back yard of his west Garden Grove home Friday morning, police said.
Officers shortly after 7:35 a.m. responded to a single-family home in the 6000 block of Killarney Avenue near Valley View Street and Lampson Avenue after family members called 911 to report he was threatening to kill himself with a handgun because “he was desponded over medical problems,” Garden Grove police Lt. Robert Fowler said.

Officers found the man, whose name has not been released, in the back yard of his home armed with a handgun, Fowler said.
Officers tried to talk to the man as police negotiators were on the way, Fowler said, but the victim pointed the handgun at officers and a shooting ensued.
Fowler said the man appears to have suffered impacts from less lethal weapons, as well as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
“At this time it appears he was only struck by the beanbag rounds and at some point he shot himself in the head,” Fowler said.
Fowler said family members were not in the back yard when the shooting happened.
Investigators from the coroner’s office about 8:30 a.m. responded to the home. An autopsy will be performed Monday to determine a cause of death, said Supervising Deputy Coroner Larry Esslinger.
Neighbors reported hearing shots followed by sirens, leaving them wondering what was happening.
Dottie Millspaugh, who lives four doors east of the incident, said she was providing daycare for 10 toddlers when a parent dropping off a child told her to stay inside.
Millspaugh said she looked outside and saw police officers running down the street with guns. They told her to get back inside where she stayed for two hours.
The Orange County District Attorney's Office is investigating the incident, as is typical in officer-involved shootings that result in injury or death.