Gunman in California shooting had domestic violence arrests

Editor’s note: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

LOS ANGELES — A California sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot this weekend when his SWAT team tried to rescue people held hostage inside a San Joaquin Valley home by a man armed with an AK-47-style rifle and a handgun, authorities said Monday.

Four other people were also killed in the shootout, including the gunman — who had been previously arrested multiple times for domestic violence offenses, according to Lt. Joel Swanson, a spokesperson for the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.

Swanson did not know the specifics of the 41-year-old shooter’s previous arrests and he has not been named publicly. A restraining order against the gunman — filed by one of the victims and effective June 3 — was supposed to stop him from coming to the home where the killings occurred.

Three people inside the home — believed to be the gunman’s sons and their mother — were fatally shot during the standoff Sunday afternoon in Wasco, a small community in the middle of farm fields northwest of Bakersfield.

The woman filed the restraining order, Swanson said, but authorities were still trying to determine what prompted her to seek legal action against him. The restraining order was also supposed to prevent the gunman from having firearms.

Deputies shot and killed the suspect after he began climbing onto the home’s roof with the firearms.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood identified the slain deputy as Phillip Campas, 35, a five-year veteran of the sheriff’s office.